‘Explore Global Procurement of Vaccines’: Aaditya Thackeray to BMC

The BMC will have a centre in every municipal ward, along with a drive-in vaccination centre across Mumbai.

Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray

(Photo: Facebook/@AadityaUThackeray)

Maharashtra Guardian Minister Aaditya Thackeray announced on Tuesday, 11 May, that to ensure vaccination for the citizens of Mumbai, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been asked to look for possibilities of global procurement of vaccines after discussion with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Thackeray also announced that the state is working on a method to ensure that the non-tech-savvy citizens and those who are unable operate the CoWin app, have an access to register for the vaccines in time.

Just a few weeks ago, on 14 April, Mumbai had over 11,000 new COVID cases, which has drastically come down to 1,794 cases in the last 24 hours.

In an interview to NDTV, Thackeray said, “Like other states, we are scrambling and struggling for vaccines.” He asserted that if the global procurement works, then they will be able to vaccinate all of Mumbai within three weeks.

Thackeray displayed confidence and said, “The vaccine hesitancy has gone away and people are eager to get both shots and carry on with post-COVID life. I think that is crucial.”

On being asked about the cost of procurement, Thackeray said that cost was not a factor and the state government was looking to procure the vaccine at the earliest.

The office of Aaditya Thackeray also released a statement saying, “Efforts to increase vaccination centres are constantly ongoing and the BMC will have a centre in every municipal ward, along with a drive-in vaccination centre across all zones of Mumbai.”

Thackeray added that, “The BMC has also issued guidelines for the vaccination policy of housing societies partnering with hospitals for vaccination within society complexes. He appealed to other cities in Maharashtra to create drive-in vaccination for citizens above the age of 65 years to ensure their comfort and ease.”

Thackeray was quoted as saying, “Until all Indians are vaccinated, all Indians are not safe.”

(With inputs from NDTV)