BMC to dedicate 12 centres on pilot basis to vaccinate children in 12-14 age group

After the Centrersquos announcement to vaccinate the children in the 1214 age group from March 16 the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC has plans to start the vaccination drive at 12 dedicated centres on a twoday trial basis in MumbaiAs per the BMC data Mumbai has over 55 lakh children in the 1214 age group The vaccine to be administered is Corbevax which is manufactured by Hyderabadbased Biological E LimitedCurrently in Mumbai only 190 BMCrun CVCs are working since the footfall of 15 age group beneficiaries reducedSuresh Kakani Additional Municipal Commissioner BMC said ldquoIt will be on a pilot basis for two days After analysing the responses and challenges at these 12 centres we plan to extend the drive to other vaccination centres Later on we will also start camps at the school levelrdquoldquoTwo doses of the vaccine will be given at an interval of 28 days Mumbai has received around 122 lakh vials and each vial has 20 doses 05 ml Each centre will be given 1520 vials which will cater to around 300 to 400 beneficiariesrdquo said the BMC officialThe Maharashtra govt has started its preparation to launch the vaccination drive at government centres only According to state officials they have received around 40 lakh vials of Corbevax vaccines in the stateDr Sachin Desai Maharashtra state immunisation officer said ldquoWe have already distributed the Corbevax vaccines depending on the population of young beneficiaries in each district We will only administer the vaccine doses to children at the governmentrun vaccine centres We donrsquot have any plans to conduct vaccination camps in schools or other placesrdquoIn its guidelines the Central govt has clarified that if the beneficiary is registered but has not attained the age of 12 years on the date of vaccination the vaccine will not be administered The Centre is expected to make necessary changes in the CoWIN system regarding the vaccination by March 16 morningThe private hospitals in the city havenrsquot received any communication from the Centre ldquoWe are waiting for the Central governmentrsquos guidelines None of the private hospitals have approached the Central government so far to start vaccination for young beneficiaries If case we approach the demand for the vaccines stocks will depend on the requirementsrdquo said Dr Gautam Bhansali chief coordinator of private hospitals for vaccinationList of dedicated CVCs in Mumbai for 1214 age group beneficiariesE ward Topiwala National Medical College and Nair Charity Hospital Mumbai CentralE ward Grant Medical College and Sir J G Group Hospital Nagpada Mumbai CentralF North ward Lokmanya Tilak Medical College and General Hospital Sion EastF South ward King Edward Memorial KEM Hospital ParelH East ward BandraKurla Complex BKC Jumbo Covid Vaccination Center Bandra EastH East ward Seven Hills Hospital Andheri EastH West ward Dr R N Cooper Hospital Villeparle WestP South ward Nesco Jumbo Covid Vaccination Center Goregaon EastR South ward Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Municipal Hospital Kandivali WestN ward Rajawadi Hospital Ghatkopar EastM East ward Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital Shatabdi Hospital GovandiT ward Swatantryaveer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar Hospital Mulund