Mumbai: 4,000 health workers to get COVID-19 vaccine in the city daily

BMC conducts mock drill a day before COVID-19 vaccination drive at Nair Hospital, Mumbai Central. Pic/Ashish Raje

As many as 4,000 health workers will be administered COVID-19 vaccine every day at nine vaccination centres in Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said on Friday.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will launch the vaccination drive from a centre at Bandra Kurla Complex on Saturday, the civic body stated in an official release.

The vaccination will start at Vile Parle-based Dr R N Cooper Hospital, it was stated.

Vaccines will be administered at 40 booths in nine centres, including KEM Hospital (Parel), Sion Hospital (Sion), Cooper Hospital (Vile Parle), Nair Hospital (Mumbai Central), Bhabha Hospital (Bandra), V N Desai Hospital (Santacruz), Rajawadi Hospital (Ghatkopar), Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Hospital (Kandivali) and BKC Jumbo COVID-19 centre.

Initially, on an avergae, 4,000 beneficiaries will be vaccinated daily at these booths, the release stated.

As many as 1.30 lakh health workers have registered for immunisation, while the civic body has received 1,39,500 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine from Pune-based Serum Institute of India.

According to the BMC, the vaccine has been stored at the F-South ward office in Parel, from where it will be transported to nine vaccination centres.

"Vaccination centres are prepared for the drive. The work at the regional cold storage centre at Kanjurmarg has been completed. Misconceptions in people''s minds about the vaccine are being cleared," city Mayor Kishori Pednekar said.

At least 7,000 staffers have been trained for the drive and 10,000 more are being trained, the civic body stated.

As per the Centre''s guidelines, health workers will be inoculated in the first phase, followed by frontline workers and citizens with co-morbid conditions.

"As a large number of citizens are expected to be vaccinated in the third phase of the drive, apart from the nine vaccination centres, 63 more will be set up, where 50,000 citizens can be vaccinated in a day," BMC stated.

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