Coronavirus: COVID-19 cases have been rising in India
COVID-19 vaccination for the age group 18-44 in Mumbai will be done at five centres today, the city's municipal body said.
These centres are Nair Hospital, BKC Jumbo Facility, Cooper Hospital, Seven Hills Hospital and Rajawadi Hospital, additional municipal commissioner (health) Suresh Kakani said.
He said at least 20,000 doses of vaccines are available for the age group 18-44.
Only those who are in this age group will be vaccinated on Saturday and Sunday, while those who are above 45 will be vaccinated whenever new vaccine stocks arrive.
The officer said only registered people, and not walk-ins, will be allowed for vaccination.
Many states have said they won't be able to start vaccinating this age group from today due to vaccine shortage.
The centre has said any new exercise takes time to pick up pace and this phase of the vaccination drive too will stabilise over time.
Delhi, Odisha, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab are some of the states that have said they don't have adequate doses of vaccines.
Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said the states are coordinating with vaccine manufacturers for procuring the doses and the centre is supporting them.
"Vaccination will be launched on Saturday in some states which have already coordinated with manufacturers. Any new exercises or process takes time to pick up pace and gradually more centres will be increased. The programme will stabilise in some time," he said.
From today, the types of anti-coronavirus vaccines and their prices will be displayed on the CoWIN portal for people to make an informed choice at the time of booking an appointment at a private vaccination centre, according to the Liberalised Pricing and Accelerated National COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy document.