80-year-old denied COVID vaccine in Mumbai, hospital cites shortage

An 80-year-old resident of Jogeshwari suburb in Mumbai was denied her vaccine shot at an official COVID-19 vaccination centre because they had run out of vaccines. The woman who had been wary of the vaccine initially had gained confidence to visit the Nesco vaccination centre only to be turned away since the Centre did not have any more supply of the vaccine, reported News 18.

This report comes in the wake of news that Maharashtra, which has been actively pursuing its vaccination drive against the infectious virus, having inoculated nearly 97 lakh people until now is on the brink of a major vaccine shortage. Large crowds have been gathering outside vaccination centres even as Mumbai’s municipal corporation closed down all private COVID-19 vaccination centres in its jurisdiction till April 12.

Also read: Maharashtra has 5 times more active COVID cases than 6 nearby states combined

As the state enters its first weekend lockdown, only the government and municipality-run hospitals will continue with the inoculation drive.

The timings for these centres have been changed though people will be allowed to travel to get vaccinated. On Saturday, vaccination will be done between 12 pm and 6 pm, while the timing will be between 9 am and 5 pm on Sunday.

Maharashtra, which has been claiming that it is rapidly running out of vaccines has administered the dose to nearly three lakh people on Friday (April 10). It still had a stock of 10 lakh doses on Friday, PTI had reported. However, the state has now received a total of 4.59 lakh doses from the Centre to ramp up its stocks.