BMC issues new norms for vaccination camps at offices, societies
In light of the recent COVID-19 vaccination scam, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued additional guidelines and stated that inoculation at housing societies and workplaces will only be conducted by private vaccination centers registered on CoWIN portal, an official said on Friday. The civic body also released a list of around 95 private vaccination centers in the city registered on CoWIN portal.
Respective managements to ensure centers are registered on CoWIN
As per the guidelines issued on Thursday, the management of offices and housing societies will have to ensure that these centers are registered on CoWIN by contacting the local authority. Office and housing society managements will have to designate a person to work as a nodal officer and coordinate with private vaccination centers and support vaccination activities, it was stated.
Guidelines regarding such vaccinations had been issued last month
The nodal officer will oversee and facilitate all aspects of vaccination such as registration of beneficiaries, availability of physical and IT infrastructure, and oversee vaccination, etc, the guidelines stated. The BMC had last month issued guidelines for vaccination at workplaces and housing societies, making a memorandum of understanding (MoU) mandatory with private COVID-19 vaccination centers, but detailed roles and responsibilities were missing in it.
Housing society and private vaccination center should sign an MoU
The nodal officer will have to ensure that an MoU is signed by the housing society's secretary and registered private vaccination center, and the details about the date of vaccination have to be displayed on the notice board of the society. Housing societies will have to inform their respective medical officer and local police station about the camps at least three days in advance.
Ten FIRs registered so far for bogus vaccination camps
The nodal officer of private vaccination centers will have to ensure that beneficiaries get a link of digital certificates, while the health department team will also conduct random surprise visits to vaccination sites, it was stated. The Mumbai Police has registered ten FIRs so far after a racket that held bogus vaccination camps for housing societies and private firms came to light last month.
There are 399 active COVID-19 vaccination centers in Mumbai
According to the BMC, 54,67,805 citizens have been inoculated. Of these, 10,83,266 beneficiaries have received the second dose as well. Presently, there are 399 active COVID-19 vaccination centers, of which 281 were operated by the BMC, 20 were government-run and 98 are private centers.
