Despite 26 inoculation centres being shut on Thursday due to the shortage of COVID-19 vaccines, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) managed to vaccinate 56,909 beneficiaries in the last 24 hours, of which 395 were administered Covaxin. Officials said there is a shortage of vaccines, following which 25 private vaccine centres will not be operational today (Friday).
Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner, said many private vaccination centres have also expressed their inability to vaccinate people, citing the unavailability of vaccines. Moreover they have been vaccinating over 50,000 people daily. As on Tuesday, it had administered around 150,000 doses. “To be sure, while an overall supply may be there at the state level, individual centres may run out of stock on account of how the states manage their replenishment,” he said.
Anoop Lawrence, general manager, Global Hospital in Parel, said with rising concerns of vaccine shortage, BMC is rationing vaccine doses to make sure that all vaccination centres in Mumbai remain functional. “We are administering 150 doses a day. We have been assured by BMC that we will get more vials in the coming few days. For the last two days, we are only taking registered patients. We don’t want a situation where registered patients don’t get vaccinated," he said.
