MUMBAI: The jumbo Covid-19 care centers established in Mumbai after the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak will now be transformed into mega vaccination centers by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, officials here said Monday.
“We will convert jumbo Covid-19 field hospitals now into vaccination centers for public benefit,” said BMC Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani, who previously inspected the sprawling facilities, designed along the lines of Wuhan’s field hospitals. .
In the initial stages, the BMC plans to conduct vaccination campaigns at its four large hospitals: King Edward Memorial in Parel, BYL Nair in Central Mumbai, RN Cooper in Vile Parle and Lokmanya Tilak in Sion, which are equipped to vaccinate 2,000 people per day each. .
In addition, 1,000 each will be vaccinated daily in peripheral hospitals such as Bhabha in Bandra, VN Desai in Santacruz, Rajawadi in Ghatkopar and Dr. BR Ambedkar in Kandivali.
This would take care of a total of 12,000 daily vaccinations covering priority groups such as health workers, police, security and other front-line workers, etc., and it is proposed that the rest be vaccinated in the Covid-19 jumbo centers.
The mega facilities are located at the NSCI in Worli, the R&D Complex in Byculla, BKC, NESCO in Goregaon and one in Dahisar and Mulund, which are currently practically empty due to the sharp decline in cases in Mumbai in recent months . .
“While a section of these giant facilities will continue to be used as field hospitals, the remaining areas will be dedicated to vaccination centers. We will establish separate entry and exit points so that people to be vaccinated do not come into contact with the patients,” Kakani said.
Civic officials hinted that the plan is to ensure that around 50,000 people get vaccinated daily in Mumbai, which ranks first in the country in terms of Covid-19 deaths, in addition to Pune, which tops the list in terms of total cases. .
In the later phases, the BMC plans to cover more than five million people, nearly a third of the city’s population, including people over 50 and those with comorbidities.
In preparation for the upcoming vaccination campaigns, Maharashtra conducted full “dry trials” of vaccination campaigns in Jalna, Nandurbar, Pune and Nagpur on Saturday.
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