Five-star hotel in Mumbai stores Covid-19 vaccines in normal fridge

This picture has been used for representational purpose

Many hotels have begun tying up with hospitals and offering packages involving vaccination against Covid-19 to lure guests. However, when Mayor Kishori Pednekar visited one such hotel on Sunday, she found vaccination storage norms being violated.

Pednekar made a surprise visit to Lalit Hotel in Andheri east near the airport and found it was violating Covid-19 vaccination guidelines. Pednekar said that the five-star hotel was offering a vaccination package without following the protocol of appropriate storage for the vaccines. She also claimed that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was not informed about the hospital and hotel tie-up. According to BMC guidelines, the entity holding the drive has to inform them about it.

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The Mayor has ordered a probe. She said, "I got to know about hotel management offering a Covid-19 vaccination package. But I found that the vaccines were kept in a normal fridge which is in violation of guidelines, as they have to be stored in cold storage. Storing them in a normal fridge could impact the efficacy of the vaccines. Also, for ice bags they are using water bottles. There are several violations of norms. The hotel got the vaccines through a tie-up with Criticare Hospital. I have ordered a probe in this matter."

‘Hotel not to be blamed'

The hotel is not to be blamed, but the hospital has not adhered to the norms concerning the cold storage of vaccines, she said. The Covaxin doses found stored at the hotel have been sealed, she said.

- Inputs from agencies