20 August,2021 07:28 AM IST | Mumbai | Prajakta Kasale
People wait at Sree Cinema BMC health post in Mahim to get vaccinated. Pic/Ashish Raje
Of the 11-lakh people eligible for the second dose this month, a little more than three lakh have received it till now. In August, public centres were closed for at least five days, apart from three weekly offs, due to non-availability of vaccines.
While 2.24 lakh people have already completed 84 days from their first dose and are yet to get the second one, another 6 lakh will complete the time gap by the end of this month.The BMC had earlier taken the decision to reserve 70 per cent of the vaccine stock for second doses, but as per data released by the civic body, this month 3.26 lakh jabs were given as first dose and 1.67 lakh as the second one in public and civic-run centres and state hospitals. The remaining second doses administered till now have been given by private centres. While a total of 3.12 lakh second doses have been administered till the 17th of this month, about 8 lakh needs to be given by the end of August.
Those who got their first dose before June 8 will complete 12 weeks on August 31. Though they can take their second jab in another four weeks, people are eagerly waiting for the second dose, as full vaccination would make them eligible for boarding trains and visiting malls.
After the state government announced that fully vaccinated people would be allowed on locals, many people turned to private centres amid the shortage at public units. In the first half of the month, 5.26 lakh citizens were inoculated by public centres and 4.95 lakh by private centres.
"After receiving a fresh stock of vaccines last Thursday, the public centres inoculated 3 lakh people within four days. We have the infrastructure, but we can't control the supply of vaccines," said a BMC official.
