Mumbai: After 9 days, 18+ Covid-19 jabs inch toward grand 25,000-mark

A woman gets a vaccine shot at Rajawadi hospital, Ghatkopar, on Monday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Ten years; that's how long it will take to partially vaccinate everyone in the 18-44 age group, if the current pace of immunisation continues. In the past nine days, nearly 25,000 beneficiaries have received their first dose, as per official data till Monday. Civic officials attribute the slow progress to limited stock, and assured that infrastructure is ready to speed up the drive once they have enough supply.

Beneficiaries receive their vaccine shots at Nair hospital on Monday. Pic/Ashish Raje

Merely 0.3 per cent (i.e. 24,903) of the people in the target group have received their first dose till May 9. The city has 90 lakh-plus eligible beneficiaries in the 18-44 age group.

Covid-19 immunisation of the 18-44 age group, which started on May 1, has been progressing at a snail's pace due to limited stock of vaccines. Consequently, the BMC allowed vaccination at only five centres - Nair hospital, BKC jumbo Covid-19 centre, SevenHills, Rajawadi and Cooper hospitals. On May 7, three more were added - World Tower in Lower Parel, Chunabhatti Maternity Home and PWD Community Hall in Bandra.

On Monday, with the addition of Dindoshi Hall and Rajasthan Seva Sangh in Evershine Nagar, the number of vaccination centres rose to 10 from five. But, the pace continues to be slow, with each centre administering 400 shots in a day.

For the 18-44 age group, registration on CoWIN portal or Aarogya Setu app is mandatory. Registration generally opens in the evening and within a minute or two all slots are booked, claimed netizens.

"I have been trying since Day 1. I keep the app ready [for booking to open], but all the slots get booked even before I click. It is frustrating," said Snehal Kulkarni from Borivli.

Two private centres - H N Reliance and Nanavati hospitals - are also giving vaccines, but many don't know when their registration opens. "They are always unavailable in the evening. Getting vaccinated is a necessity, but our system has turned it into some competition and people are trying to use every possible way to surpass others," said Rashmi Jadhav from Andheri.

"More than 1 lakh people are trying to book for hardly 3,000-4,000 available slots. That means, more than 95 per cent are not able to register. We are ready with all the infrastructure [to vaccinate people], but we are not getting enough stock. It is not in our hands," said a BMC health official.

23,148
No. of people in 18-44 age group vaccinated at civic centres

1,755
No. of people in 18-44 age group vaccinated at private centres