Ward-level local vaccination facilities to be progressively reduced as footfall drops
A medic administers a dose of vaccine at BYL Nair Hospital on Tuesday. Pic/Ashish Raje
With corporators and private parties demanding their venues, used for vaccination centres, back, the BMC is shifting to vans—mobile as well as stationary. The corporation had 296 vaccination centres in the city, which has now reduced to 270 and will further reduce in the next few days. BMC officials admitted that they are getting requests to return the venues, but added that the centres will not be closed without review.
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The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had roped in social welfare centres, private halls to start the vaccination drive and reach out to the general public. But as the drive nears completion and the city has almost opened up, the demand to get the venue back has gathered momentum.
A student gets a dose of vaccine at BYL Nair Hospital. Pic/Ashish Raje
A corporator, referring to one such centre, said, “The owner used to rent out the place for social events like workshops, marriage/birthday celebrations but handed it over to the BMC for a social cause. Now the owners are getting bookings but are forced to turn them away. It is affecting their revenue.” Another corporator said with the dip in beneficiaries, only around 40-50 people access the centres a day.
“We will do vaccination through vans, some centres will be stationary and some will be mobile. We will arrange camps as per the demand from the particular areas,” said Suresh Kakani, additional commissioner of BMC. He added that the centres will provide vaccines to all categories.
In Mumbai, 296 vaccination centres were run by the BMC, now the number dropped to 270 over the last month. The centres administered 35,893 doses on Monday. There were days when these centres had administered over 1.5 lakh vaccines on a single day.
296
No. of vax centres that BMC had opened
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