Low Uptake: Mumbai’s Intranasal Covid-19 vaccination lags, only 117 doses administered since April

The iNCOVACC intranasal Covid19 vaccine introduced in vaccination centres as a booster dose this year by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC in Mumbai has not garnered enthusiastic uptake among beneficiariesSince July 25 there has not been a single taker for the intranasal vaccine in the BMCrun Covid Vaccination Centers CVCsThe number of beneficiaries has not changed since July 25 According to BMC data up to October 16 only 117 individuals have received this intranasal vaccine in Mumbai Since July 25 there have been no takers for the intranasal vaccine in the CVCsThe data shared by the BMC in an RTI Right to Information application highlighted that a total of 2000 vaccine stocks were made available in Mumbai from January this year And until August 29 only two doses of the vaccine from the stock were wastedAround 1882 vaccine doses have remained unused in CVCs since JulyFurther the data revealed that the majority of vaccines distributed in BMCrun CVCs are concentrated in specific wards L ward consisting of Kurla area leads with 140 vaccines distributed followed by the PNorth ward covering Malad W and MEast ward covering Govandi with 120 vaccines each Additionally the KEast and KWest wards covering Andheri Vile Parle and Jogeshwari areas along with the S ward covering the Mulund area have distributed 100 vaccines in each wardOn the inaugural day April 28 23 beneficiaries received the iNCOVACC nasal vaccine at eight centres Besides senior citizens the BMCrun centres started providing nasal vaccines to frontline workers and healthcare workers in June Of the 117 recipients 106 beneficiaries are senior citizens over 60 years of age 10 are healthcare workers and one frontline workerExperts state that a drastic reduction in the number of Covid19 cases in Mumbai is one of the reasons why people are not opting for the booster doseSpeaking about why people are not opening up for the intranasal booster dose Dr Gautam Bhansali who was in charge of all private Covid19 hospitals in Mumbai during the peak of the pandemic said ldquoThere are a few reasons why the beneficiaries are not opting for it One of the main reasons is the decline in Covid19 cases Secondly most of the cases today have mild symptoms of Covid Their major symptoms are usually the seasonal flu due to which the citizens are in a relaxed state Also the intranasal vaccines usually cause irritationrdquoldquoRather than opting for a new vaccine in the form of a booster dose beneficiaries usually opt for the same vaccine dose that they had earlier taken eg Covovax or Covishield Rarely people opt for mixandmatch vaccinesrdquo added Dr Gautam Bhansali from Bombay HospitalDr Hansika Kapoor a research author from the Department of Psychology at Monk Prayogshala in Mumbai said A large number of individuals know that either themselves or some of their family members have previously contracted Covid19 As a result they presume they possess sufficient antibodies to combat the virus To encourage an increase in the uptake of booster doses a clear and informative explanation about why continuous protection via vaccines is crucial There exist several misperceptions regarding why vaccines continue to be necessary among the public Its important to convey the significance of booster doses especially with the ongoing mutation of new Covid variants even during periods of relatively low reported casesMidday tried reaching out to Dr Daksha Shah BMCs executive health officer but she was not available for commentAs per BMC the expiration date of these vaccine doses is May 31 2024 Besides CVCs a large amount of stock 280 doses is stored at the Regional Vaccine StoreNumber of centres providing nasal vaccine dose facilitiesThe vaccines are available across all BMC wards in the city Beneficiaries can avail of the nasal vaccine in BMCrun CVCs across Mumbai No prior online registration is required for the precautionary dose All beneficiaries can avail of the nasal vaccine through onspot registrationCovid19 cases in Mumbai and MaharashtraMumbai has been reporting singledigit cases for the past week and most of the cases are asymptomatic On Sunday the city reported three new Covid19 cases and zero deaths Whil on Monday Mumbai reported zero new cases Around 24 active coronavirus cases have been reported in the city According to the October 16 data 49 tests were conducted in MumbaiMeanwhile Maharashtra recorded only two new cases on Monday The case fatality rate in the state is 181 per centSince January 1 2023 131 Covid19 deaths have been recorded in Maharashtra 7099 per cent of these deaths have occurred in individuals above 60 years of age 83 per cent of the deceased had comorbidities and 17 per cent did not have any comorbidityAt present the dominant variant of Covid is Omicron XBB116 In Maharashtra a total of 1733 cases were found to be infected with this variant There were 19 deaths reported among the cases of this variant