Over 5,000 Mumbai police officers still to get Covid-19 vaccines

A cop gets the vaccine at Kavale Math BMC school at Walkeshwar on May 8. Pic/Bipin Kokate

The Mumbai police have stepped up efforts to get all city cops vaccinated without any delay. Despite being frontline workers, over 5,000 policemen are still to receive Covid-19 vaccines. So far, about 87 per cent of the force have got at least one dose.

The Mumbai police commissioner has asked senior officers to encourage the remaining policemen to take the shot. Of the 42,000 cops in the city, officers said, 36,657 have been administered the vaccine. Fully vaccinated cops in Mumbai number at 26,891, said city police spokesperson DCP S Chaitanya.

Sources said police chief Hemant Nagrale keeps track of the number of officers and constables vaccinated across the city. Following his appeal, senior officers have begun urging their team members to get the shots.

Policemen often come in contact with potential Covid-19 patients because of the nature of their duty. File pic/Satej Shinde

Officials said the department is also trying to ascertain if there is any particular reason that is holding up so many cops from getting the vax.

However, there are some obvious factors. An officer said a few policemen are down with Covid-19 and some have recently recovered from the viral infection. These cops can be vaccinated only after medical advice.

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Similarly, the officer said, pregnant cops and those who have recently delivered cannot be given the vaccine immediately.

Another officer said, "There have been two to three cases in which the policeman was absent on the day of the vaccine. We would like to know the reason for that."
DCP Chaitanya told mid-day, "There are 20 vaccine centres all over Mumbai where policemen are being vaccinated. The police commissioner has asked top officers to encourage all cops to take the vaccines."

Joint Commissioner (Admin) Rajkumar Vhataker added, "A special facility has been started at Nagpada Police Hospital from May 11. Vaccines are being given only to policemen on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at this hospital."

87
Percentage of city cops given at least one dose