Almost two lakh beneficiaries have been vaccinated since the mass immunisation drive began on February 16, in Mumbai. In the last 24 hours, 91 per cent of healthcare and frontline workers have been given the vaccine shots at the 36 vaccine booths across the city. Officials attributed this surge to more numbers of FLWs coming forward compared to HCWs.
According to the vaccine data provided by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, 9,830 of the targeted 10,800 beneficiaries were vaccinated on Wednesday. Of which 5,265 FLWs had taken the first dose compared to 1,196 HCWs.
Meanwhile, for the first time, more than 3,000 first time beneficiaries were given a second dose on Wednesday, increasing the total numbers to 13,754 so far.
Senior health officials said they are receiving good response from the beneficiaries due to which they could reach a two lakh mark in 38 days. Of the total beneficiaries, 1,86,158 are HCWs and 83,241 are FLWs. “So far we have not reported any cases of severe side effects of vaccines. However we are also urging HCWs to come forward for the first and second dose vaccines which will help to boost their immunity due to which they will not contract infections,” he said.
According to experts, the first dose of the vaccine helps recognise the virus and ramp up the immune system which helps the body fight against diseases. The second dose is called the booster shot, which helps in further boosting the immune system.
“In the public health set-up, one needs to follow the guidelines and if our national immunisation guidelines say the second dose must be taken on completion of four weeks, we should abide by it,” said an expert.
