Mumbai: 11,315 took free booster shots in city on Day 1

Mumbaikars throng the vaccination centre at BYL Nair Hospital for the free booster dose. Pic/Ashish Raje

The Covid-19 Vaccine Amrit Mahotsav kicked off in the entire state, including Mumbai, on Friday, with 11,315 adult Mumbaikars taking free booster shots at the BMC and the government vaccination centers. While the BMC administration claims that the drive was going smoothly, there were cases of people being turned down due to insufficient doses at the centres. In one case, a 55-year-old woman was refused a vaccine in Dahisar stating that it was only for 60+. The sceheme says that people in the 18-59 age bracket can get free booster shots at public centres till September 30.

The Government of India has announced free precaution doses for 75 days and the drive began on Friday. The state received a good response on Friday as 1,51,244 citizens (figure includes people who took vaccine at private centres) took booster shots on day one of the drive. Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Jalgaon, and Palghar were the top five districts where most numbers of people took the booster shot. In Mumbai, the number stood at 17,270, Thane at 13,832, Pune at 13,262, Jalgaon at 12,101, and Palghar had 11,204 people who took the vaccine on Friday (these figures included the paid vaccines).

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Since the weekend was near, many centres saw a good number coming by for the booster, but due to limited vials at few centres, many were turned down and were asked to return on Monday. The staff at the Dahisar vaccination centre, where a lady was turned away, said, "We only got 200 doses of vaccine." Speaking on the issue, Dr Mangla Gomare, executive health care officer, said "Everyone knows that the BMC has to provide free boosters for all adults, and there might be some miscommunication, but no officer should refuse an eligible person the vaccine. We have enough doses and if needed, we will give more vaccines to the centres to avoid any inconvenience to the citizens."

The booster doses started on January 10, 2022, for healthcare, frontline, and 60 plus group, and from April 10 for the 18+ group. According to the vaccination report released by the state health department, Mumbaikars have topped in taking the vaccine dose. According to the Health Department, 10,10,072 beneficiaries from Mumbai have taken the precautionary dose till July 15, whereas 6,89,259 beneficiaries of Pune, which ranked second, have taken the third dose. Thanekars came third with 4,32,497 beneficiaries. In Raigad, 1,79,008 people have protected themselves by taking precautionary doses, whereas Palghar ranked fifth, with only 97,281 taking the booster dose.