The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will rope in NGOs to speed up the vaccination drive and reach out to as many people as possible.
While many are still struggling to get themselves registered as they are not familiar with the online system, the BMC along with the NGOs will reach out to such people by setting up camps for them.
The first of the camps will start on Monday at Dharavi to reach out to the slum dwellers, and soon they will be held in other places.
As Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal has set a target of 45 days – 45 lakh for vaccinations, the BMC is taking various measures to achieve this by increasing the hospitals where the inoculation drive can be carried out.
The camps will have a help desk where queries related to the vaccine and the process will be answered along with a registration counter, and thus beneficiaries will be guided.
The help desks and volunteers will also track those who have been vaccinated to follow up on them and their health, and educate them to not panic and get adverse effects treated.
To avoid longer queues at the municipal-run centers, and to also increase the footfall at private hospitals, the BMC has been asking the latter to ensure that a daily target of 1,000 is met.
Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner, said, “We have roped in NGOs to help us reach out to as many eligible citizens as possible along with our employees. This exercise will start on Monday at Dharavi where citizens will get their queries resolved and also can seek help for registration along with follow-ups post vaccination.”
Surjitt Sahani
