With the aim of vaccinating 20,000 to 50,000 Mumbaikars every day from March onwards, the BMC on Thursday sent feelers to various private hospitals involved in Covid-19 care about providing shots for the general population.
“We will need many Covid-19 vaccination centres to be able to vaccinate such a huge set of beneficiaries,” said a senior civic officer.
The Centre has announced March 1 as the date to start the third phase meant for people over 60 years of age and those over 45 with comorbidities.
It is estimated Mumbai has over 10 lakh citizens who are over 60 years old. “We still don’t have an exact number as far as people over 45 years with comorbidities are concerned,” said the officer.
AMC Suresh Kakani said his department’s goal at the moment is to have over 100 vaccination centres to start the third phase.
At present, there are 37 public and private hospitals involved in the first and second phases meant for healthcare and frontline workers.
With over 100 centres, the BMC can manage over 20,000 on the first day itself, said Kakani. “If we are allowed to work in two shifts, we would be able to manage up to 50,000,” he added.
Surjitt Sahani
