Maha gets over 3 lakh vaccinated in a single day, Mumbai 55,000

Mumbai: Vaccination for all above 45 years began on a high note as the state and the city registered record turnouts on Thursday, giving a much-needed nudge to a drive that was losing steam. Maharashtra recorded over 3lakh vaccinations while Mumbai breached 55,000, the highest in a single day for both. In Mumbai, over 37,000 from 45 to 59 years got vaccinated, a significant jump from the ,000-5,000 from the same age group with co-morbidities who were turning up.

Urging districts to prioritize immunisation in areas facing a surge in cases, principal health secretary Dr Pradeep Vyas said in a circular that field units must decide if they want to cover wards/villages sequentially or eligible groups in the shortest time. He asked districts to try and exhaust the recent vaccine consignment (of 26.77lakh doses) in 5-7 days by pushing daily vaccinations to 4lakh.

The enthusiasm to get the jab among those above 45 was palpable across inoculation centres. Nesco jumbo centre had a queue building up at 8am. By noon, it vaccinated over 2,100. Goregaon residents Ashok Yadav, Mithilesh Pandey and Nandkumar Shetty said they had been eagerly waiting to take the shot and more so since the surge. “Our housing complex has many cases. The co-morbidity relaxation was much needed,” said Yadav (48), who lost his father to Covid in February.

Vile Parle resident Prasanna Kamath, 46, said he could take the shot 10 days ago because of a comorbidity, but his wife Shweta, 45, qualified only after the relaxation. Sangeeta Biswas, 54, a teacher from Goregaon, and her neighbour Gia Pereira, 50, were also among recipients. “Sooner or later, we all have to return to our regular work routine and vaccine is the only way to do that,” she said. Jyotika Kanuga, 45, said the relaxation should have come earlier but better late than never. Dean of Nesco vaccination facility Dr Neelam Andrade said walk-ins rose in the last 10 days.

As per BMC data, 55,870 took the shot on Thursday, including 37,563 above 45, 10,576 senior citizens, 5,423 frontliners and 2,308 health workers. Mumbai has administered 12.08lakh doses, including 1.54lakh second doses. The city has an estimated 40lakh people in the targeted age groups. Dr Mangala Gomare, BMC’s executive health officer, said, “We are hoping to touch 1lakh vaccinations in days to come.”

Maharashtra has so far given 65lakh doses. Dr Balakrishna Adsul, dean of SevenHills Hospital, said, “We are expecting a big turnout on Friday since there is a long weekend after for people to recover from any mild aftereffects.”