In a major concerning development, the number of vaccination centres run by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and state government has been dropped by 31.
With this, the city has 239 such vaccination centres, stated a BMC report. Earlier, Mumbai had 296 civic vaccination centres till November 2021 and the number dipped to 270 until a fortnight ago.
This comes at a time when Mumbai is all set to open up all commercial and social and cultural activities as the third wave diminishes with the city marking two digit cases and consecutive zero deaths.
Officials said the civic centres collectively jabbed 1.5 lakh beneficiaries a day in October and November last year.
Moreover, it has also come to light that with a big chunk of eligible citizens in the city already inoculated, the footfall at these facilities has slowed down. This has prompted calls for better use of the spaces.
As per a data revealed by the BMC, an average 21,000 people were vaccinated daily in the city last week. The average daily vaccination in February was 28,000. But now, hardly 30 to 40 people visit these centres every day.
Earlier, the BMC had roped in social welfare centres, private halls to speed up the vaccination drive. As a result, civic officials said, there is a growing demand to release the venues.
The data stated that 1.06 crore people had received the first dose, while 92.71 lakh were fully vaccinated as on March 5. About 3.46 lakh beneficiaries have been given the booster shot.
Officials said the BMC is considering closing down more vaccination centres and having mobile units that will administer doses to all categories.
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