Mumbai: 4,374 medical workers take jab on fifth day

Healthworkers line up for the Covishield vaccine at Sion hospital on Saturday. Pic/Ashish Raje

On the fifth day of the COVID-19 vaccination drive, over 4,000 healthcare workers took their first vaccination jab. While the BMC had sent messages to 4,842 workers, those who got the vaccines were not from Saturday's list alone. Many did not get the vaccine as their names were not there in the pre-registered list. Meanwhile, after getting 1.25 lakh more doses, the BMC may increase the number of booths from 40 to 72 on Monday, if the state allows.

The response for vaccination drive increased after the BMC relaxed the rules, allowing walk-in appointments for pre-registered medical staff even if their names were not on the daily list. The civic body even allowed health workers to get the vaccine at a centre convenient to them.

While many beneficiaries took the advantage of these relaxed norms, some were sent back as their names were not registered on the CoWIN app. Now, the BMC is planning to share the names of pre-registered healthcare workers on its COVID-19 website to avoid errors.

On Saturday, 4,374 healthcare workers got the dose of the vaccine. While the maximum healthcare workers (740) went to Ambedkar hospital in Kandivli, KEM received 733, Rajawadi (640) and Cooper (565) hospitals also saw a good response. The BMC sent messages to 4,842 healthcare workers for the vaccination on Saturday. "Out of 467 healthcare workers who were vaccinated at BKC's Jumbo COVID Care Centre, 30 were not listed for today. Ninety-five healthcare workers did not get the vaccine as their names were not in the pre-registered list," said a BMC officer.

"We asked the hospitals to renew their list of healthcare workers. We will include them," said Suresh Kakani, additional commissioner of the BMC. Meanwhile, the vaccination drive will be conducted on five days-Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The number of centres across the state will also be increased as the state received 8.7 lakh doses of Covisheild vaccine, needed for completion of the first phase.

4,842
People who were sent messages by the BMC