On Monday, the government-run Shraddha Vihar hospital in Mumbai’s Andheri area saw a queue building up from 7 am. The centre had received o...
On Monday, the government-run Shraddha Vihar hospital in Mumbai’s Andheri area saw a queue building up from 7 am. The centre had received only 100 vaccine doses – 50 reserved for people who needed to take their second shots and 50 for those getting their first. By noon, having exhausted the stocks, officials asked those still in queue to return the next day.
“For the last two weeks, this is the situation” said Dr Ajit Pampatwar, medical officer in K-West, covering Veera Desai. “We are getting limited supply that we exhaust in a day or two. Our official time is till 5 pm, but stock gets over much before that.”
On Sunday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation received 44,000 doses that it quickly distributed to over 295 centres. The stock was over by late Monday afternoon, and the centres were shut on Tuesday.
A mismatch in supply and demand coupled with the municipal corporation’s decision to “go aggressive on vaccination” has led to a situation where centres are increasingly running dry in Mumbai, even as officials and experts are awaiting a potential third wave.
This month, municipal vaccination centres have functioned for five out of 10 days. In July, centres ran for 17 days, down from 25...
