Amid row over vaccine shortage, Mumbai’s BMC receives 99,000 doses of Covishield

New Delhi: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Saturday said it received 99,000 doses of the Covishield vaccine.

As per the BMC, the doses will be distributed to civic and government-run vaccine centres. Vaccine shortage in Mumbai led to the temporary halting of vaccination across 75 vaccination centres in the city on Friday.

This comes amid allegations by Chief Ministers across the country that there are only enough vaccines in the state for the next few days.

Mumbai is currently under a weekend lockdown till 7 am on Monday in an effort to curb the spread of the COVID-19 infection. The city reported 9,200 COVID19 cases and 35 deaths on Friday. There are currently 90,333 active cases in the city.

Earlier, Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Aslam Shaikh had said that Maharashtra received the least number of vaccines and a majority of vaccination centres were facing closure due to shortage of doses.

“Centre is doing politics. Earlier more vaccinations centres were opened and we were told to vaccinate more and more people but later they stopped giving us the vaccines. Maharashtra has received the least number of vaccine doses. Today, a majority of vaccination centres across the state have been shut due to shortage of vaccine,” he told reporters.

Earlier in the day, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray called an all-party meeting via video conference to review the current COVID-19 situation in the state.

Maharashtra on Friday recorded 58,993 new COVID-19 cases, 45,391 recoveries, and 301 deaths.

The Maharashtra government has also imposed a strict weekend lockdown from Friday night till 7 am on Monday. The home delivery of food and essential supplies and movement of students taking various exams are allowed.