MUMBAI: At least 25% of the people who are getting vaccinated in the city everyday are not residents of Mumbai.
So, despite administering nearly 51 lakh doses, BMC does not have an actual picture of how many Mumbaikars have taken the vaccine or how long it will take to cover its adult population.
In an informal analysis, the civic body found that at certain centres, nearly a third of the doses are being administered to residents of Thane, Navi Mumbai, Dombivli, Karjat, Panvel, Palghar and Vasai-Virar.
A cursory look at vaccination numbers shows Mumbai has vaccinated more than neighbouring areas.
Thane district has administered only 24.22 lakh doses, less than half of Mumbai, while at Palghar it’s a little over 6 lakh.
With 50.93 lakh doses administered till Saturday, Mumbai has covered 9.85 lakh people with both doses and 31.21 lakh with one.
By these estimates, around 10% of the city’s estimated adult population of 93.48 lakh should be fully vaccinated, and roughly 32% partially.
But there is no way to know the city’s real coverage, admitted Dr Mangala Gomare, BMC’s executive health officer, as many beneficiaries are residents of MMR.
“We have estimated that we have to vaccinate at least 20% more if we wish to cover our entire population,” she added.
A senior civic official said since CoWin is universal and does not provide a break-up of vaccinations based on residential addresses, it is not possible to find out the city’s real coverage.
“We have no control over who gets vaccinated here as one can book a centre anywhere online,” said the official.
“Many live in MMR but work in Mumbai, and demand vaccination here, which is not a completely illegitimate demand,” the official said.
The official said the trend in vaccination is what has been the norm even for other aspects of healthcare.
“Even in Covid treatment, upto 30% of ICU beds in city hospitals are normally occupied by MMR residents,” he said.
Officials believe better availability of doses and well organised centres have been a draw for people from MMR.
Although after May 1, when the Centre opened the drive for all above 18, many from the city traveled to adjoining rural districts and got vaccinated there.
The higher concentration of private hospitals too gave it a leg up above the rest, said the civic official.
Private hospitals have vaccinated over 12 lakh people since the beginning of May in Mumbai.
It, however, does not matter how much individual cities and districts have vaccinated as the target is to vaccinate the entire population for it to make a dent on transmission, said Dr Subhash Salunkhe, a technical advisor to the state government.