Mumbai: The Navratri festival spirit seems to be affecting vaccine turnout in both Mumbai and Maharashtra,, where health officials aim to vaccinate 15 lakh people daily for the week-long Mission Kawach Kundal.
On Saturday, 8.28 lakh people – including 80,965 in Mumbai – took the Covid vaccine. In Mumbai, where the BMC had organized an only-women’s day at the public vaccination centres, only 48,000 women turned up for the free vaccine. In the last two only-women days, over a lakh had turned up.
“The only explanation could be that as it is Navratri, women fast and are busy with poojas,’’ said BMC additional commissioner Suresh Kakani.
Administrators from other districts offered similar reasons for the lower-than-expected turnout on Saturday. A district health officer said, “We had a target of 10,000 vaccinations today, but we managed only 4,000-odd. Generally vaccine turnout is higher on Saturday as it’s an off from work for many, and they do not lose out on a working day due to side-effects.”
Kakani said a new plan to be finalized on Monday will focus on neighbourhood vaccination. “We want to ensure there is a vaccination centre for a clusters of 20-30 housing colonies/buildings. People will turn up as the centre is so close to them as they can walk in,’’ he said.
Health minister Rajesh Tope is likely to review the special drive on Monday and the experiences of districts will be used to fine-tune the drive for the remaining days. Mission Kawach Kundal ends on October 14.
A state official said they would now take vaccinations to the village level. Many districts have had localised special drives to commemorate Gandhi Jayanti and they are finding it hard to sustain the momentum for all such drives. “With ample stocks and ebbing second wave, there is no sense of urgency with respect to vaccines anymore,” said a district official.
On Saturday, 8.28 lakh people – including 80,965 in Mumbai – took the Covid vaccine. In Mumbai, where the BMC had organized an only-women’s day at the public vaccination centres, only 48,000 women turned up for the free vaccine. In the last two only-women days, over a lakh had turned up.
“The only explanation could be that as it is Navratri, women fast and are busy with poojas,’’ said BMC additional commissioner Suresh Kakani.
Administrators from other districts offered similar reasons for the lower-than-expected turnout on Saturday. A district health officer said, “We had a target of 10,000 vaccinations today, but we managed only 4,000-odd. Generally vaccine turnout is higher on Saturday as it’s an off from work for many, and they do not lose out on a working day due to side-effects.”
Kakani said a new plan to be finalized on Monday will focus on neighbourhood vaccination. “We want to ensure there is a vaccination centre for a clusters of 20-30 housing colonies/buildings. People will turn up as the centre is so close to them as they can walk in,’’ he said.
Health minister Rajesh Tope is likely to review the special drive on Monday and the experiences of districts will be used to fine-tune the drive for the remaining days. Mission Kawach Kundal ends on October 14.
A state official said they would now take vaccinations to the village level. Many districts have had localised special drives to commemorate Gandhi Jayanti and they are finding it hard to sustain the momentum for all such drives. “With ample stocks and ebbing second wave, there is no sense of urgency with respect to vaccines anymore,” said a district official.
