As many as 417 persons were administered Covid-19 vaccine jabs at a drive-in inoculation center set up by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation on the first day, a civic official said on Tuesday evening.
The civic body on Tuesday launched the city's first drive-in vaccination center where specially-abled people and senior citizens can get vaccine doses while sitting in a vehicle, without standing in a queue. The facility has been set up in a parking lot at Kohinoor Tower in Dadar area for inoculating those above the age of 45 years.
There are two booths where 50 vehicles each can wait in a queue before vaccination, and some 100 vehicles can be parked during post-vaccination observation period, the official said. If a person who has received a jab develops any adverse reaction, he or she can sound the horn.
Eight doctors and 18 nurses have been deployed at the center, and if sufficient stock of vaccine doses is available, it has the capacity to vaccinate around 5,000 persons a day, the official said. The BMC has set up over 135 vaccination centers across Mumbai since the inoculation drive began on January 16 this year.
As of Tuesday evening, a total of 24,86,827 vaccine doses had been administered in the city, according to the civic body. The BMC informed in a release that it was expecting to receive one lakh vaccine doses by late Tuesday night, so vaccination of those above 45 will take place between 12 noon to 5pm on Wednesday.
Registration will be mandatory for those taking the first dose, while those taking the second dose can walk in without registration, the civic body said. Those in the 18 to 44 age group will be administered vaccine doses only at five existing centers between 9 am to 5pm.