Mumbai: A vaccination campaign is being carried out since January 16 to curb the corona cases. The free vaccine from the Central government received by the State government was given to a private hospital by the Mumbai Municipal Corporation administration.
BJP MP Manoj Kotak made a serious allegation that citizens of Mumbai have been deprived of free vaccines due to this unscheduled administration of the Municipality.
Else citizens of Mumbai would have received free vaccines
The coronavirus has been creating havoc in Mumbai for the past year. While this spread was somewhat declining, the cases began to increase again from February. A vaccination campaign has been launched in Mumbai since January 16 to prevent corona.
Initially, the vaccination was initiated at the Municipal and government hospitals. The municipality then started vaccination in private hospitals to increase the vaccination process and to reduce the stress on municipal hospitals. For this purpose, the Central government had allowed private centres to charge Rs 250 for the vaccination. Out of the stock of vaccine received by the corporation, they handed over the stock of vaccine to private hospitals. In return, the Municipality gained Rs. 150 behind every dose of vaccine.
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6 lakh 30 thousand doses in private vaccination centres
There are 72 Municipal Corporation, 17 State and Central Government and 74 Private Vaccination Centers in Mumbai. A total of 26 lakh 21 thousand 894 vaccines have been processed at these vaccination centres so far. 17 lakh 58 thousand 190 doses have been given at Municipality centres, 2 lakh 32 thousand 720 at state and central government centres, and 6 lakh 30 thousand 984 doses to the private centres respectively.
The Center sent the vaccine to the Government of Maharashtra and to the Municipal Corporation. There were no such instructions given as to how many of these vaccines should be processed at Municipal centres and how many to private hospitals. The Municipal Corporation had full authority to decide in this regard. MP Manoj Kotak said that if the corporation had opened more centres at that time and increased its capacity, all the vaccines would have been available to the citizens of Mumbai free of cost. Municipal officials were not available to take a note in this regard.
Vaccination statistics
A total of 26 lakh 21 thousand 894 beneficiaries have been vaccinated in Mumbai so far. The first dose was given to 20 lakh 16 thousand 14 beneficiaries and the second dose were given to 6 lakh 5 thousand 880 recipients. So far, a total of 2 lakh 89 thousand 964 health workers, 3 lakh 40 thousand 257 frontline workers, 10 lakh 55 thousand 931 senior citizens, 45 to 59 years of age with serious illnesses and other 9 lakh 18 thousand 826, while 16 to 916 beneficiaries between 18 to 44 years have been vaccinated.
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Vaccination campaign
The corona vaccination was initiated on January 16 to prevent the spread in Mumbai. Initially, health workers and frontline workers were vaccinated. From March 1, the vaccine is being processed to citizens over 60 years of age, as well as citizens between the ages of 45 and 59 with various serious illnesses. The vaccination of recipients between the ages of 18 and 45 started on May 1.