According to a data revealed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), only 17 per cent adolescent have taken the first dose in the age group of 12-14 years within a month.
With this, it has come to light that city sits at the bottom, when compared to other neighbouring districts like Thane, Palghar and Raigad in vaccinating teenagers. On the other hand, Mumbai is the only city in the state to achieve 100 per cent target with all 92,36,500 adults having received both the doses.
As per the data, of the 3,95,883 beneficiaries in the age group, only 66,345 (16.76 per cent) have taken the first dose, while 275 (0.07 per cent) have taken the second dose of the vaccine in Mumbai.
In the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), 31 per cent have taken the first dose in Thane, while in Palghar and Raigad, 37 and 59 per cent have taken the first dose respectively.
Officials attribute the low response to vaccination drive to the ongoing school examinations and vaccine hesitancy. Additionally, since COVID-19 cases are also low in the city, parents are not sure if they want their children to get vaxxed.
On the other hand, another BMC official stated that the response has been low since the beginning, and despite all our efforts, the civic body is still lagging behind. They are in constant touch with schools and are conducting camps, too. Moreover, the BMC even called up societies to organise camps on their premises.
The drive for vaccinating children began on March 16.
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