Only 200 vaccinated; those who didn’t get the shot say they were hopeful as BMC had received a fresh batch of vaccines on Sunday
Beneficiaries wait outside V N Desai Municipal General Hospital on Tuesday
Just a day after a record number of beneficiaries were vaccinated on Monday, as claimed by the BMC, several citizens who arrived at V N Desai hospital in Santacruz on Tuesday morning were turned away due to limited stock of COVID-19 doses.
The pictures showing dejected beneficiaries outside the gate of V N Desai Municipal General Hospital went viral on social media platforms. Hundreds had gathered at the centre for their doses, but tokens were issued to just 200-odd people initially. Still, several citizens decided to wait at the gate on learning that the hospital will get a fresh stock of vaccines in the afternoon, but it never came.
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Citizens disappointed
“On Monday, many people received the vaccine and we came to know that the BMC has got a fresh stock of vaccines, so we came here. But now, they are saying only a few of us will be vaccinated,” said a senior citizen outside Desai hospital.
“The stock of vaccines got over and we vaccinated as many people as we could,” said Dr Mangala Gomare, executive health officer of the BMC.
It was not just the Santacruz hospital, almost all vaccination centres in the city had long queues of eligible recipients eagerly waiting to be inoculated against the Coronavirus.
The BMC had received a fresh consignment of 1.58 lakh vaccine doses on Sunday, following an acute shortage earlier. On Monday, municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said the BMC vaccinated 69,577 beneficiaries in a day and would increase the daily target to 1 lakh soon.
Few shots at Mulund centre too
However, on Tuesday, vaccination centres once again were left with limited stock of COVID-19 vaccines and several had to ask the beneficiaries to go back home.
More than 500 people had lined up outside Savarkar hospital in Mulund since 6 am, but when the centre opened, they learned that it had only 300 doses.
‘Use BMC fund to vaccinate entire state’
Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shewale has asked the state government to use Rs 79,000 crore in BMC’s bank accounts to vaccinate the entire state for free. The state can repay after a few years, he said. Ravi Raja, the opposition leader in the BMC, opposed his request and said, “The Centre owes Maharashtra Rs 24,000 crore in lieu of GST. If it gives the money, it will be possible to provide better services to the people.”
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