Mumbai sees record 92% turnout on Day 4 of Covid vaccination drive

The Covid vaccination drive in Mumbai saw a record high turnout on Friday, with 3,539 (92%) of the 3,852 healthcare workers (HCW) getting the shots. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) also received the second lot of 125,000 Covishield vaccine doses from the Serum Institute of India (SII), Pune. These doses will be used as part of the first phase to vaccinate 130,000 HCWs. The second lot was expected to be delivered on Friday, but after the fire at SII, they were unsure of the delivery. Mangala Gomare, chief of BMC’s public health department, said, “We received 125,000 doses of Covishield from SII on Friday. We will use these doses for the first phase where healthcare workers are being vaccinated.”

BMC officials said the turnout went up owing to nod for walk-in entries for HCWs and private hospitals requesting their staff to get vaccinated.

Dr Pradeep Jadhav, medical superintendent, Bhabha Hospital in Bandra, said, “We had requested private hospitals and nursing homes to educate their staff on taking vaccination as it is completely safe. That helped improve the turnout on Friday.”

The vaccination drive began in the city on January 16, with 1,926 HCWs (48%) getting vaccinated. On Tuesday and Wednesday, 50% and 52% of the targets were met. As of Friday, 8,790 HCWs have been vaccinated in Mumbai and 12 minor adverse effects following immunisation have been reported. A few doctors complained of fever, weakness or bodyache.

Meanwhile, the second lot is stored at the cold storage in Parel’s F-South ward office. At a later stage, the Kanjurmarg facility will be activated as the central vaccine cold storage facility. On January 13, the BMC received its first lot of 139,500 vaccine doses from the SII.