Considering the big turnout for the third-phase of vaccinations that began on March 1, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to open all 22 public hospitals across the city starting Tuesday, March 2. Senior citizens and people above the age of 45 with comorbidities will be eligible to get the vaccine at these sites.
The jumbo facilities reportedly witnessed overcrowding on Monday, which led to concern that the vaccination sites could end up being a super spreader event. The civic body opened a handful of private hospitals and five BMC-run jumbo centres for vaccinations on Monday.
People at the site formed larges queues with the lines growing longer after 12 PM given that the Co-WIN app remained non-functional for many users.
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Additional Municipal Commissioner, Suresh Kakani said that starting Tuesday, all public vaccination centres will handle people belonging to special groups. “We have decided to add more centres and also open more counters within these hospitals for senior citizens and those above 45 years,” Kakani said.
Among the hospitals that will start vaccinations are KEM, Sion, BYL Nair, RN Cooper, Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar and Babasaheb Ambedkar Hospital in Kandivli, and a handful of others.
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The BMC has said that only three private hospitals are currently empanelled under the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) and the number will likely remain unchanged as other hospitals are still in the preparatory stages.
However, a state official quoted by TOI said that over 500 CGHS empanelled hospitals will start vaccinating citizens across Maharashtra over the next 2 to 3 days. Officials in Mumbai remain concerned about the capacity of the CGHS hospitals and their capability to scale up vaccinations.
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