Covid-19 vaccination back in demand in Mumbai, thanks to Omicron

Going by the current speed of vaccination, one crore of the population is estimated to get the first dose by end of the month, say health officials. The city has already crossed the 92.30 lakh population target. Post this, 15,000 to 20,000 people have been walking in daily for their first dose. Meanwhile, 75 per cent of people have already taken their second dose.

The vaccination drive started in January this year. As per the estimated population of above 18 years in the city, the state government was given a target of 92.36 lakh. The city achieved the said target on November 13. They have, however, managed to keep the momentum.

In September, vaccination centres were crowded, and more than 13 lakh people were inoculated with the first dose. In October, the numbers declined to 6.74 lakh with an average of 22,000 people per day.

In November, it further dropped to 18,000 per day. But with the outbreak of the Omicron variant, the number of vaccinations increased in the last week of November. In first 10 days of December, 2.34 lakh people received their first jab with an average of 23,000 per day.

There are multiple reasons behind this increase, think health officials. "The threat of Omicron has made people realise the importance of the vaccine. The BMC has launched awareness campaigns to reach the last mile. Residents of MMR have been taking the vaccines in the city as it is near their workplace, or due to convenience and availability of vaccines. There is no deadline to complete the first dose and we are appealing to citizens to come forward to take first as well as second dose," said an official from the BMC.

According to figures released by the municipal corporation, 97.27 lakh people had received their first jab till December 10. Out of which 4.26 lakh are health/front line workers, 12.21 lakh are above 60 years of age, 21.55 lakh are between 45 to 60 years of age and 57.9 lakh are between 18 to 44 years of age.