Mumbai's NESCO health workers felicitated by Health Minister Mandaviya for administering max vaccines in Maha

Nita Pingle being felicitated by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in New Delhi. Pic/ Nita Pingle

A team effort of health workers at the Mumbai-based NESCO Covid Vaccination Centre (CVC) was appreciated by Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in New Delhi last week. On the occasion of International Women's Day, under the best women Covid-19 Vaccinators category, the workers were felicitated for administering the highest number of vaccine doses in the state since the vaccination drive began in January last year.

​​Health worker Nita Pingle, along with her coworkers, who administered over 1.56 lakh doses to the beneficiaries last year, represented the NESCO centre from Maharashtra at the national level.

While during the felicitation programme Mandaviya appreciated Pingle, she says, "It is a team effort. I have not achieved the target alone. Due to technical difficulties, a group of coworkers logged in with the same IDs, which in this case, was mine."

Nita Pingle along with her team at NESCO. Pic/Nita Pingle

Pingle, who was on Covid-19 duty for the past two years, was posted at isolation centres and later moved to the NESCO vaccination centre. Speaking about her experience, the nurse says, "Initially, many people were hesitant about the vaccine. There was a lot of phobia about the virus and the vaccines."

Dr Smriti Choradia, assistant professor at Nair Hospital and in-charge of the NESCO vaccination centre, says, "The staff members have worked really hard. We started with just four units and later extended to 15 units as the footfall increased. On a daily basis, each nurse was vaccinating around 400 people."

Speaking about the challenges, Dr Charodia says, "Around 6,000 to 8,000 people visited the centre per day as the second wave was at its peak, and the citizens wanted to get themselves vaccinated. A lot of technical glitches too created problems."

Dr Neelam Andrade, Dean of the NESCO Jumbo Covid Care Centre and vaccination centre, says, "I am proud that the efforts of NESCO health workers were appreciated at the national level. Our staff not only represented our centre or Mumbai, but also the efforts the health workers of Maharashtra."

So far, over four lakh doses have been administered by the NESCO Vaccination Centre.

Currently, the centre has been listed as one of the dedicated centres to administer vaccines for the 12-14-year age group. As the children will receive only Corbevax, the centre has decided to set up a different unit for them in order to not mix the vaccine doses with those for adults.