Mumbai will within a week achieve the target of fully vaccinating its adult population against the coronavirus, as city needs to administer another 34,000 vaccine doses to become the first Indian metro to achieve the milestone, the Times of India has reported.
The city has around 92.36 lakh adult population of which 99.6 percent had taken both doses till March 25, the report said. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials are hopeful that the city would reach the 100-percent mark in another four to seven days.
Other cities close?
Overall, Mumbai is likely to touch the 100 percent milestone ahead of other metros Bengaluru (urban) (93 percent adults fully vaccinated), Chennai (81 percent) and Delhi (91 percent).
Also Read: India reports 1,270 new COVID-19 cases, 31 deaths in a day
Within Maharashtra too, Mumbai is an outperformer compared to the state average of 74 percent adults vaccinated. A state official called the status “commendable”, the report said, adding that they acknowledged challenges due to Mumbai also being the most populated district in the state.
The official noted that Pune is the only other city in the state that has reached 90 percent coverage for the second dose. They noted that several districtd have “stopped pursuing full vaccination goal”, especially after daily infection numbers nosedived.
A huge 1.7 crore people are “overdue” for their second COVID-19 vaccine shot in Maharashtra, the report said, adding people simply did not show up for their dose.
“The third wave has slowed down last-mile coverage in districts where a huge number of infections were reported. They can now take the vaccine only after a couple of months,” the report quoted state immunisation officer Dr Sachin Desai as saying.
Expert view
The financial capital of India administered 100 percent of the first doses on November 13, 2021 after India began vaccinating its adult population in January.
Experts told ToI that widespread vaccination helped “blunt” impact of the third wave in the city. Dr Shashank Joshi, a member of the state COVID-19 task force, said vaccination and viral exposure in large population sections helped Mumbai during the third wave.
“… unlike the second wave, there is no thick tail left by the third wave,” he added. He advised completing the vaccine course and said those eligible for second and booster doses should take the shots.
The city has administered 2.04 crore total COVID-19 vaccine doses — 1.06 crore first doses, 94.45 lakh second doses, and 3.91 lakh precautionary doses. Majority of these—1.3 crore doses were administered at municipal centres, 63.6 lakh at private centres and 9 lakh at state-run centres.
The city also saw an influx of people from the neighbouring districts and municipalities seeking vaccines.
Case numbers
India reported 1,270 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, continuing with the trend of daily infections staying below 2,000. The new infections take the tally of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country to 43,020,723.
The number of active coronavirus cases has now slipped to 15,859, down 328 from the previous day, and active cases now constitute 0.04 percent of the total confirmed cases.
As many as 31 deaths were also reported in the last 24 hours, taking the toll to 521,035. Out of these, 22 were backlog deaths added by Kerala as part of its data reconciliation exercise.
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