BMC to administer COVID vaccine to children: Mumbai Mayor Pednekar

Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar on Monday made it clear that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is all set to launch a COVID vaccination drive for children between the age group of 2 to 17, pending guidelines from the Centre. The Mayor appreciated the city's vaccination count and urged people to wear masks during Diwali celebrations even as the city has been experiencing a fall in the number of COVID cases.  

"Vaccination will start after receiving the guidelines from the Central government and the required stock of vaccines for this age group," the Mumbai Mayor said while interacting with media persons on Monday.

The Government of India's Subject Expert Committee (SEC) had on October 12 recommended the grant of Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) to Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for vaccinating children in the age group of 2-18 years, clearing the way for children to be added in India's COVID vaccination drive.

When asked which age group of children would be vaccinated initially, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar said,

"We are prepared but we cannot tell right now which age group is going to be administered the vaccine initially. Our expert team will decide about that later after we receive a guideline from the ICMR concerning the same." 

Pednekar lauds Mumbai's COVID vaccination drive, urges all to be careful

Mayor Pednekar hailed Mumbai's COVID vaccination drive and said,

"Our vaccination drive has reached the doorsteps of people in the city. Our vaccination centers have reached every locality, it has reached every house. They have even vaccinated bed-ridden patients at their homes."

The Mumbai Mayor further urged everyone to follow COVID protocols and be careful during Diwali.

"The risk is still there. The SOP that was put into force prior to the Diwali last year should be followed this year too. While going outside our houses during Diwali we all should follow the SOP, mandatorily wearing a mask," Pednekar said. 

Ready to vaccinate children, no infrastructure upgrade needed: BMC

The BMC, in line with the Maharashtra government, allowed the reopening of schools for classes 8 to 12 in the city. It had revealed that the adolescent population would be vaccinated soon after getting a nod from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to kick start the vaccination drive for children. The BMC had also made it clear that it does not require any customization in the infrastructure.

Mumbai currently has a total of 325 vaccination centres, while 97% of the eligible population have received the first dose of the vaccine. On the other hand, 55% of the people have received both the jabs of the COVID vaccine.

According to BMC data, nearly 1.34 crore people have been administered the first dose of the vaccine while 48.33 lakh have been administered with both the doses.

Meanwhile, the state on Sunday reported 1,715 fresh COVID cases. The total active cases in the state stands at 28,631, as per the state health department's bulletin on Sunday. Mumbai, on Sunday, for the first time since the pandemic emerged in March last year, recorded zero deaths due to the lethal Coronavirus.

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