Mumbai: 20 private hospitals shortlisted for vaccination centres

A police personnel receives the vaccine at Nair Hospital on Tuesday. Pic/Ashish Raje

Of more than 100 private hospitals which want to start vaccination centres, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has shortlisted 20 till now. The corporation will allow them to start the centres after scrutiny. Meanwhile, the data of all BMC employees has been registered as frontline worker and they have been asked to take the jab in batches. On Wednesday, only 69 per cent of targeted beneficiaries received the vaccines.

The BMC has appealed to private hospitals to come forward to set up vaccination centres as the corporation will start to vaccinate over 30 lakh senior citizens from next month. "More than 100 hospitals responded, but 20 have given information in the stipulated format. We have shortlisted them as of now and the process is going on," said Suresh Kakani, additional commissioner of the BMC.

There are 1.6 lakh health care workers and 1.9 lakh frontline workers registered with the BMC. Around one lakh employees with the BMC are registered as frontline workers.

On Wednesday, the corporation received a lukewarm response from beneficiaries. Out of 9,375 expected health care and frontline workers, only 6,463 received the vaccination. Of these, 3,736 were frontline workers. The BMC added a centre at Kurla Bhabha Hospital and the total number of centres are now 23 with 125 teams working at vaccination sessions. Till now 95,657 people have got the vaccine and no one has reported serious health issues.