Mumbai: Amid several vaccination scams, BMC releases list of private vaccine centres

MUMBAI: Amidst the several fake and suspicious vaccination drives coming to light in the city, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has circulated a list of around 95 registered private vaccination centres which are eligible to administer the jab.
The civic body has also informed that in case of any doubts, the nodal officers appointed for each drive should contact their ward war room. The ward war rooms had been set up last year by the BMC to help in arranging hospital beds for Covid-19 patients who were unable to find them, especially when the second wave of the pandemic was at its peak.
The list of the 95 centres includes all major hospitals in the city like Bombay Hospital, Jaslok Hospital, HN Reliance Hospital, Breach Candy Hospital, Hinduja Hospital, Kokilaben Hospital, Fortis hospital in Mulund, Lilavati Hospital in Bandra, Holy Family hospital and several other nursing homes.

The list of centres has been attached to the many additional guidelines that were issued by the BMC as a part of its revised SOP for vaccination in housing societies and workplaces. One of them also stated that it is the responsibility of the housing society to display the details regarding date of the vaccination, the name of private Covid-19 vaccination centres (PCVC) engaged, and charges per dose on the society notice board.
"The details regarding MoU, PCVC engaged for vaccination, date of vaccination and charges per dose of vaccine to be decided in an executive committee meeting of the society and minutes of meeting to be maintained and produced whenever it is asked by competent authority," states the civic circular.
Goregaon corporator Srikala Pillai said that she is suddenly witnessing a rush at the civic vaccination centres again. "Even many people from high rises are coming to civic centres now with there being a fear on whether the camps being held by private centres are genuine or not. The number of places where the suspicious camps were held across the city has only been increasing," said Pillai.
Civic corporators have said that people are forced to look for private camps as vaccines at the BMC centres are most of the time out of stock. BJP corporator Atul Shah, who is coordinating at a civic vaccination centre at the 160-year-old Madhav Baug Temple compound at CP Tank Road in Bhuleshwar, said that at the ward level centres, the BMC is back to providing 100 vaccine doses daily.
"At a time when vaccination at civic centres for those who are 18 years and above has begun, these have very few doses. Many people are then forced to look for private centres to take the jab," said Shah.