Is Mumbai's High Vaccination Rate Behind The Dwindling Of COVID-19 Deaths?

According to the latest reports, Mumbai completed 2 crore COVID-19 vaccinations on Wednesday, February 23 and became the first district in Maharashtra to attain the said landmark. 

Mumbai has administered more than 2 Crore Covid-19 Vaccination Doses.@CMOMaharashtra Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray congratulated BMC's dedication towards #MissionZero and making Mumbai #CovidFree.#NaToCorona #BMCVaccinationUpdates pic.twitter.com/i0k1PCveDz

— माझी Mumbai, आपली BMC (@mybmc) February 23, 2022

Nearly 111 per cent of the citizens have taken the first jab in Mumbai while 96 per cent have taken both the jabs. These numbers reportedly entail those from the neighbouring districts too. The closest district to Mumbai is Pune which has administered 1.71 crore doses since the commencement of the drive in January 2021.

From Mumbai's 2 crore doses, 1.5 crores are first jabs while 90.9 lakhs are the second jabs while 3.29 lakh are precautionary doses. On the other hand, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar remarked that all eligible citizens should be both doses of the coronavirus vaccine in time. 

This she emphasized this especially for those who are yet to take their second jabs. Pednekar also added that the locals have been following all rules and restrictions. She believes that this is helping in reining in the spread of the coronavirus infection.

Speculations can be made that the high vaccination numbers and the adherence to rules have resulted in the decline of COVID-19 cases as well as fewer fatalities. 

Similarly, Mumbai on Wednesday reported zero coronavirus deaths and registered 168 new cases. This becomes the fifth time in February that the city witnessed zero COVID-19 deaths.

#CoronavirusUpdates
23rd February, 6:00pm#NaToCorona pic.twitter.com/eTX770fxNB

— माझी Mumbai, आपली BMC (@mybmc) February 23, 2022

Moreover, 17 people required hospital admission based on the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) daily COVID-19 update on Wednesday. In December 2021, too, zero deaths were seen in Mumbai on seven days. 

Narratives are doing the rounds that curbs are most likely to be lifted by the state disaster management authority on Friday, February 25. Officials have been quoted in reports elaborating on how a review will be done and given the conditions, restrictions are likely to be lifted soon.