Mumbai: BMC to shut Covid-19 vaccine centres with low footfall

Representative image. Pic/ Satej Shinde

As the number of beneficiaries taking the Covid-19 vaccine has dropped, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is planning to shut Covid Vaccination Centres (CVCs) which have very low footfall.

There were 267 BMC-run CVCs in the city till February 28.

According to the BMC officials, around 27,881 doses were administered in the civic-run centers till today

Suresh Kakani, the additional commissioner of BMC, said, "We have asked the concerned ward level officers of each ward to check the number of beneficiaries in each center at the ward level. Depending on the feedback, we will close down the CVCs and convert them into vaccination camps in densely populated areas, wherever needed, for precaution dose beneficiaries or second dosers. There is no point in continuing the centres where we hardly get any footfall."

Civic officials said more than 95 per cent of people in the city are fully vaccinated and some of the CVCs are getting less than 500 beneficiaries daily due to which they are planning to close the centres and use the resources elsewhere.

As per the CoWIN portal, 2.01 crore people in Mumbai have been vaccinated. Over 1.25 crore doses have been administered in civic-run CVCs so far as compared to more than 63 lakh doses administered in private hospitals' CVCs.

In Mumbai, out of the total active 435 CVCs - 267 are administered by BMC, 18 by the government and 150 by the private sector.

As per the officials, the number of Covid-19 cases are decreasing in Mumbai. While the city reported zero deaths on Monday, the number of tests done is 12,014 (lowest in the year).

Mumbai on Monday reported 73 new Covid-19 cases. 7 patients were hospitalized of which 4 patients are on oxygen. The BMC data also stated that the recovery rate stood at 98 per cent and the caseload doubling time is 5,065 days. The city does not have any sealed building or containment zone currently.