MUMBAI: Nearly nine months after healthcare workers were prioritised for immunisation against Covid-19, it remains unclear exactly what proportion of this group have been fully vaccinated in Mumbai.
Unvaccinated health workers not just stand the danger of exposing themselves to the infection, they could also pose a risk to vulnerable patients.
Civic records show that of the 2,73,249 people registered as ‘healthcare workers’ in Mumbai, barely 1,40,802 (51.2%) have taken both shots while 1.89lakh (70%) have received at least one dose. This data, however, is flawed by BMC’s own account. It doesn’t include health workers who took a second shot in a private centre. There is also the possibility of multiple registrations inflating workforce numbers. So there is no data to say what percentage of doctors and nurses are vaccinated and whether there’s hidden hesitancy that needs to be tackled.
At the civic-run medical colleges that employ thousands, there’s been no exercise to assess immunisation coverage. Dr Ramesh Bharmal, dean of BYL Nair Hospital, believes more than 90% have got both shots. “There will be a miniscule number who haven’t taken the vaccine, but we don’t know exactly how many,” he said. He said there are people with underlying health conditions who may have not taken the vaccine.
Health workers were the first to get vaccinated when the drive started in January. Mumbai started with a preliminary registration of 1.3lakh, the number gradually rising to 2.7lakh by September 16. Bharmal said there was hesitancy at the beginning, but it fizzled out during the second wave.
Dr Hemant Deshmukh, dean of KEM Hospital, said they don’t have an exact count of unvaccinated employees. “We did have discussions if we should only allow vaccinated health workers to enter ICUs and operation theatres, but we didn’t take it further,” he said. A professor from the community medicine wing guesstimated health workers awaiting full vaccination at KEM to be 1-3%. A small percentage of non-doctors may be hesitant due to underlying conditions, he said. “We also had fresh medical students joining us later, so they may be awaiting second shots,” he said. Dean of Sion Hospital Dr Mohan Joshi said it was the duty of every health worker to get vaccinated. “What is the need to keep such data,” he questioned.
Dr Sheela Jagtap, BMC’s immunisation in-charge, said health staff at private centres had to be given second shots under general categories as Co-Win doesn’t allow vaccination of special groups such as health workers outside of public centres. “We also don’t think Mumbai has 2.71lakh health workers, this inflated number has come due to duplicate or multiple registrations,” she said.
Private hospitals with smaller workforce have a better grip on numbers. Hospitals that TOI spoke to said the majority of their employees were vaccinated. “Almost 99% of Masina Hospital's staff is fully vaccinated, the other 1% are due for medical reasons,” said CEO Dr Vispi Jokhi. A spokesperson for Hiranandani Hospital said 100% of their staffers were vaccinated except 20-odd new joiners. Tardeo’s Bhatia Hospital too said all were vaccinated.
