Vaccination Phase 2 unlikely to kick off in Mumbai from March 1

Nurses administer COVID-19 vaccine to healthcare workers at Nair Hospital, on Wednesday. Pic/Ashish Raje

The Centre on Wednesday announced the Phase 2 of COVID-19 vaccination that includes senior citizens and people aged above 45 with comorbidities, from March 1. But a delay is expected for the inoculation process to start in the city. With just three days left and no detailed instructions to the state, it will be impossible to roll out such a massive drive in the stipulated time, a BMC official said on Thursday.

All senior citizens and people aged above 45 with comorbidities are next in line to receive their COVID-19 shots. However, the BMC does not have confirmed data on more than 30 lakh senior citizens in the city, and has very little information on people with comorbidities. "We are awaiting instructions from the government of India," Iqbal Singh Chahal, the municipal commissioner of Mumbai, said on Thursday.

‘Beyond our capacity'

"Though we have data on senior citizens, the BMC can't enrol each and every person for inoculation against the novel Coronavirus. It is beyond our capacity. We are expecting guidelines for the same and maybe there will be options other than the CoWIN app for registration," said Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani.

A health worker collects a swab sample of a woman at Jain Health Centre in Dadar West on Thursday. Pic/Suresh Karkera

"Multiple meetings are being held at the corporation to review the preparedness, but it is very unlikely that the vaccination [for the next phase] will start on March 1," said a health official from the BMC.

He added, "Hardly three days are left and we need more clarity on several issues, like registration options, walk-in facility, specification of comorbidities, proof for the same, charges for private hospitals, etc. However hard the BMC tries, it cannot start the programme on such a short notice."

Training underway

Meanwhile, the BMC has started training more healthcare workers as the number of vaccination centres will be increased. Currently, the city has 36 vaccination centres and the BMC plans to add 64 more with the help of private hospitals to increase the figure to 100.

An elderly man is seen with mask on his chin at Dadar on Tuesday. Pic/Shadab Khan

The civic body will also increase the capacity of administration of doses from 10,000 to 20,000 per shift, and even arrange vaccinations in two shifts if given permission.

36
No. of vaccination centres city currently has

64
No. of vaccination centres BMC plans to add soon