In a bid to inoculate beneficiaries at a faster pace, the BMC has issued global bid today to acquire 1 crore COVID-19 vaccines to vaccinate the citizens of Mumbai at the earliest possible on a massive scale in its decisive fight against the pandemic outbreak. The civic body has resolved to make every possible effort in future also to acquire sufficient quantity vaccines to inoculate all eligible citizens of Mumbai on war footing in the next 60-90 days.
On May 10, Maharashtra Tourism and Environment minister Aaditya Thackeray had said that after discussing issue with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, he had asked Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to explore possibilities of global procurement of vaccines.
The Shiv Sena Youth president also said that Mumbai can be vaccinated in three weeks if the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) can import COVID-19 vaccines. He further stated that cost is not a factor and the state government's priority is ‘procurement at the earliest’. "We are looking at the possibility of globally procuring vaccines for Mumbai. If we can do this, we have a roadmap to vaccinate the people of Mumbai in three weeks," he noted.
“While we explore the possibilities of globally procuring vaccines and increasing vaccination centres to have one in every municipal ward, the roadmap to administer the second shot to every age group will be published soon,’’ he said.
He asserted that the vaccine hesitancy has gone away and people are eager to get both shots and carry on with their life. “I think that is crucial,” he said.He added that the state government has urged all other cities in Maharashtra to have the drive-in vaccination for citizens above the age of 65 for their ease and comfort.
Meanwhile, 2,116 new COVID-19 cases were reported on May 12 in Mumbai's. The city's infection tally rose to 6,82,102. Now, there are 38,859 active cases in the city.
