10 November,2020 10:00 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Trials of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University is underway at KEM hospital
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the country's richest civic body, has identified 1 lakh frontline workers who will be given the COVID-19 vaccine. The COVID-19 warriors, who are working in government and private hospitals will be given the vaccine first after the trial runs are completed and the vaccine is available in the market.
According to a report in Hindustan Times, BMC officials said they have compiled data of 1 lakh frontline workers who are going to be a priority for vaccine distribution, followed by senior citizens. Till now, more than 2,500 frontline workers of BMC have contracted COVID-19 and more than 150 have lost their lives.
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Suresh Kakani, additional commissioner of BMC, said, "We have identified a total of 1 lakh frontline workers in the city who will be given vaccine on priority once it is available. These 1 lakh frontline workers involve workers from both private and government institutions."
Kakani further added, "After frontline workers, the vaccine will be administered to senior citizens. The Central and state governments will also issue guidelines on further distribution. However, the school of thought is such that frontline workers and senior citizens are going to be the priority."
As per the BMC, the vaccine distribution strategy will be amended from time to time based on the guidelines received from the Central and state governments.
Two months ago, the Central government formed an expert committee, comprising of representatives from all relevant ministries and institutions, to oversee all aspects of COVID-19 vaccine plan - from identification of the vaccine to buying to financing the purchase, to distribution and administration.
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The identification process undertaken by BMC is part of the civic body's vaccine distribution strategy. The BMC had kicked off trials of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University a month ago. The trial is being undertaken at the civic-run KEM Hospital.
At present, India is banking on four types of vaccines for which trials are being conducted or will be started in the coming days. The four types of vaccines include the BCG vaccine, the vaccine by Oxford University, Russia's Sputnik V and India's Covaxin by Bharat-Biotech.
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A few days ago, Adar Poonawalla's Serum Institute of India, which is conducting trials for the vaccine by Oxford University, had said that the vaccine can be made available starting January 2021, if it is found to be successful.
Giving insights on the status of antibodies, the civic body said it doesn't plan to conduct any fresh sero surveillance study which is undertaken to ascertain whether an individual has developed COVID-19 antibodies.
A BMC official said, "It is natural that with more time, more people have started developing antibodies, and this could be one of the reasons why the number of cases has been going down in the city."
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