As Covid-19 raises its ugly head again, the health department of the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) is on an alert mode to counter any type of emergency situation in the twin-city.
However, it has come to light that only 17 percent out of the eligible beneficiaries have been vaccinated with the booster dose.
This is in sharp contrast when compared with the data on the first and second vaccine doses for Covid-19, which has witnessed much wider coverage.
As per official statistics 7,31,087 (85% eligible beneficiaries have taken their first dose and 6,69,509 (84 % ) people have been fully vaccinated against the virus. Booster doses have been administered to 1,21,338 (17 %) eligible beneficiaries, officials said.
Number of people eligible for vaccine much higher than projected numbers
Although the government has set 8,82,804 as the target of vaccine eligible population within the twin-city, the actual figures are said to be higher.
“Our actual coverage for the first and second dose is around 95 percent as many people have taken the doses out of the city. However, the low turnout for booster shots is worrying. We have placed orders for fresh stock of vials and the vaccination drives will be intensified soon.” said medical officer Dr Anjali Patil.
After a zero count for the past several months, the number of active cases has gradually reached 34 till Saturday. However only one patient is admitted to hospital while others are in home isolation.
Fortunately, the total death count has remained stable at 1407.
Civic body in battle-ready mode
“Though the situation is under control, our entire civic machinery continues to be on a standby mode to tackle an uptick in the Covid-19 graph . Citizens should also keep their guard up by continuing to follow the covid protocols.” appealed MBMC chief- Dilip Dhole.
Directions have been given to ramp up vaccination drives and ensure operational readiness of some of the covid care infrastructure including- oxygen availability, pressure swing adsorption (PSA) plants, ventilators and human resources. 100 oxygen supplemented beds including 20 in the ICU are ready in the Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Hospital in Bhayandar.
