Civic hospital nurses to be Mumbai’s chief vaccinators

MUMBAI: Civic hospital nurses will be the main vaccinators in Mumbai when the Covid-19 vaccine arrives.

As the BMC public health machinery readies for the mass vaccination drives, it has already begun training the trainers, who are mainly doctors. “In the first phase, doctors from the public health department and preventive social medicine departments of medical schools and peripheral hospitals are being trained,” said additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani.

Two rounds of training of trainers are already over, and a few more remain. “These doctors will then begin training others, mainly nurses who will be the main vaccinators,” said BMC executive health officer Dr Mangala Gomare. The doctors will supervise teams of nurses during the vaccination drive.

Around 1,300 vaccinators will be needed across the city. “The drive will start with vaccination for the roughly 1.25 lakh healthcare workers in the city,” Kakani added.

He said the vaccination drive will begin in hospitals rather than dispensaries because they are better equipped to handle any medical situation.

However, the BMC has not yet submitted data of clinical trials held for the Oxford vaccine at KEM Hospital, Parel, and Nair Hospital, Mumbai Central. Meanwhile, Wednesday is the last day of the civic tender to develop the vaccine storage facility in Kanjurmarg. The winning bidder will have to procure walk-in coolers and freezers and construct walls that are thick enough to ensure maximum cooling conditions. “We believe the work can be completed within 10 days of starting,” said Kakani.