BMC organises special COVID-19 vaccination camp for Mumbai's Aarey Colony tribals

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) arranged a special COVID-19 vaccination camp for individuals living in the Aarey Colony in Mumbai. This initiation was taken by the Mumbai Suburban Guardian Minister Aditya Thackeray, who opened the camp on Monday in the Khambacha Pada (hutment/small village) region. Simultaneously, after the inauguration of the camp, more than 1,500 individuals have been vaccinated in the area since Monday. The tribals from the 27 villages in Aarey were deprived of the vaccination program. This is due to the difficulties in the access of vaccines and lack of knowledge about the vaccination push. 

While talking to a local villager, he expressed the communities concern by saying that they are uneducated and unaware of the vaccination procedure. So, they were unable to visit the vaccination centre. He further said that they recognise the significance of vaccines and even praised the good organisation of the vaccine camp. He said that finally, they would receive their first dose.  

According to ANI, a local Shiv Sena leader, Amit Pednekar, who is in charge of helping the BMC for vaccination at the centre said, "Tribal people here were not vaccinated due to lack of awareness. These communities were not going to vaccination centres as they fear to contract Covid infection. Last time when Aditya Thackeray visited this place, many people had requested him for this camp". 

COVID cases in Maharashtra

Maharashtra has 77,729 current active COVID-19 cases, according to the Union Health Ministry. A total of 61,10,124 people recovered from the illness, while 1,33,215 died. 

Although the overall pattern of coronavirus infections in Maharashtra is flattening, 11 districts remain a source of worry. With lockdown restrictions expected to be relaxed in parts of the state in August, district administrations with high positive rates have been urged to implement tougher limitations to bring the Covid-19 issue under control. Palghar, Pune, Solapur, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, Ahmednagar, Beed, Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, and Raigad are among the 11 districts having a large number of active cases. 

On the contrary, starting in August, there will be an exemption of the Covid-19 limitation in 25 districts in the state. These districts, including Mumbai, have a considerably lower-case positive rate than the rest of the state. 

Image Source: PTI