Twenty-five out of the 84 COVID-19 vaccination centres in Raigad district and 37 out of the 41 such centres within the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) limits were shut on Thursday, owing to the lack of stock of vaccine doses.
Only 3,780 doses were available for Thursday’s vaccination. “For Friday, the remaining stock would be meagre with hardly 10-50 doses available at each centre, which is capable of administering the jab to 100 people. The turnout of beneficiaries is good but unfortunately the supply has gone low. There is a chance of more centres being shut on Friday,” Raigad Collector Nidhi Choudhary said.
Till date, 1.58 lakh beneficiaries have registered for vaccination in Raigad district and of them, 1.36 lakh have received the dose. “I spoke to the Union health secretary and I was told that the Centre would be sending vials. Once they are available, the centres will open again,” Ms. Choudhary said.
In Navi Mumbai, only the civic-run hospitals at Nerul, Vashi, Airoli and Turbhe were functional on Thursday. “With no stock, all the centres will have to remain shut on Friday,” NMMC Commissioner Abhijit Bangar said.
While the other corporations in Thane district have the stock of vaccines for at least one more day, the NMMC is the worst-hit.
Meanwhile, all the 21 centres — nine are government-run and 12 are private — under the Panvel Municipal Corporation (PMC) remained closed on Thursday with many beneficiaries returning home from vaccination booths. A total of 63,879 vaccine doses have been given so far in Panvel with a daily average of 2,500 vaccinations.
“All the vaccination centres have put up boards declaring closure due to lack of doses. We are waiting for new stock,” one health officer from the PMC said.
