After successful exclusive Covid-19 vaccination drives for female beneficiaries, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will now hold a walk-in drive exclusively for students and teachers on September 28 (Tuesday). The second half of the day will be reserved for those waiting for their second dose. Meanwhile, September 27 has been reserved for women, from 10 am to 6 pm at all the civic and state-run centres.
A civic official said eligible citizens can directly approach all government and municipal vaccination centres in Mumbai; no online pre-registration is required. Beneficiaries will be required to only bring a government identity card. Teachers and students are also required to bring identity cards of their educational institutions, the official said.
Additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani said the decision comes on the line of the state government order of reopening schools from October 4 across Maharashtra. “We want to vaccinate each and every teacher and eligible students. So far, 40 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated and more than 80 per cent have taken their first dose. We want to vaccinate everyone with at least the first dose before Diwali,” he said.
Experts anticipate that next year, by this time, the state will be in a much more comfortable situation as vaccines for children will widen the scope of the drive. Senior doctors said considering the challenges, they have done very well. India has considerable potential to ramp up infrastructure, considering its skills in public vaccination.
