BMC Drafting a Plan for COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution in Mumbai

With a coronavirus vaccine being developed at a rapid pace, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is currently preparing for ways to distribute a vaccine when it becomes available. The current timeline suggests that a safe vaccine will not be available for a few months at least.

As per the BMC’s estimations, over 1.24 crore people or around 30 per cent of the population consisting of healthcare workers, frontline staff, as well as senior citizens will need to be vaccinated. 

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It is said that the BMC will seek the help of private and civic hospitals in the city to distribute the vaccine effectively. The civic body will also leverage the distribution networks established by clinics, health centres, and maternity homes to send out vaccines.

The vaccine distribution strategy will be done following the conclusion of the BMC’s ‘My Family-My Responsibility’ door-to-door survey by the end of October. 

The civic body has already started screening citizens for symptoms of the coronavirus while also providing safety guidelines for the months to come. The agency sought the help of 15,000 frontline staff divided into 5,000 teams for screening Mumbaikars.

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This door-to-door survey has helped the BMC identify several senior citizens with COVID-19, while many were recommended to use oxygen therapy to counter low oxygen levels. The civic body said that it has screened around 10 lakh seniors through this survey. 

Additional Municipal Commissioner of the BMC, Suresh Kakani said - “The arrival of the vaccine may take some time, but we will start our planning from November, once the ‘My family-My Responsibility’ programme is completed. The programme will give us data on individuals or groups who need to get the vaccine first. The planning for the vulnerable target group can be done in a week. Whenever the vaccine arrives, we can give it to this vulnerable target audience within 15 days using our civic-run health infrastructure and with the help of private health care institutions.”

The civic body has said that its strategy for vaccine distribution will change as newer guidelines are published by the State and Central authorities. Currently, a vaccine candidate from the University of Oxford’s Jenner Institute is being trialled at the city’s KEM Hospital. Pharma giant AstraZeneca is also involved in the development of this particular vaccine.