<p>Days after the Mumbai civic body floated a global tender to procure the Covid-19 vaccine, the Maharashtra government has asked all the municipal corporations in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) to purchase the vaccine and inoculate the citizens.</p>.<p>The MMR covers the twin districts of Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban and large parts of neighbouring Palghar, Thane and Raigad districts.</p>.<p>Spread over 6,355 sq km, the MMR has nine municipal corporations, nine municipal council and 1,000-odd villages, which is home to nearly 2.5 crore people.</p>.<p>The nine corporations are Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, Navi Mumbai, Ulhasnagar, Bhiwandi-Nizampur, Vasai-Virar and Mira-Bhayender.</p>.<p>Last week, BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation floated a global tender to acquire one crore vaccines followed by Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation, which plans to import four lakh vaccines.</p>.<p>The global tenders were floated after the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government decided to temporarily suspend the vaccination programme for the 18-44 age group because of a severe shortage of vaccine doses.</p>.<p>The corporations within MMR must focus on procuring vaccines, state Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde said, adding that the state government is in touch with the Centre on regular basis to increase the quota for Covishield and Covaxin vaccines so that the two doses of the 45 plus age group could be prioritised. "Ahead of the third wave the vaccination programme has to be given a thrust," he said.</p>.<p>The Maharashtra government is eying vaccines from Sputnik V, Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.</p>.<p>The BMC's bid is yet to elicit any response and the corporation is likely to extend the dates of the process.</p>.<p>The MMR has been one of the Covid-19-hotspots, however, over the past fortnight, the per day cases have come down to an average between 5,000 to 6,000 but on average over 100 deaths are being reported every 24 hours.</p>
<p>Days after the Mumbai civic body floated a global tender to procure the Covid-19 vaccine, the Maharashtra government has asked all the municipal corporations in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) to purchase the vaccine and inoculate the citizens.</p>.<p>The MMR covers the twin districts of Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban and large parts of neighbouring Palghar, Thane and Raigad districts.</p>.<p>Spread over 6,355 sq km, the MMR has nine municipal corporations, nine municipal council and 1,000-odd villages, which is home to nearly 2.5 crore people.</p>.<p>The nine corporations are Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, Navi Mumbai, Ulhasnagar, Bhiwandi-Nizampur, Vasai-Virar and Mira-Bhayender.</p>.<p>Last week, BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation floated a global tender to acquire one crore vaccines followed by Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation, which plans to import four lakh vaccines.</p>.<p>The global tenders were floated after the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government decided to temporarily suspend the vaccination programme for the 18-44 age group because of a severe shortage of vaccine doses.</p>.<p>The corporations within MMR must focus on procuring vaccines, state Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde said, adding that the state government is in touch with the Centre on regular basis to increase the quota for Covishield and Covaxin vaccines so that the two doses of the 45 plus age group could be prioritised. "Ahead of the third wave the vaccination programme has to be given a thrust," he said.</p>.<p>The Maharashtra government is eying vaccines from Sputnik V, Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.</p>.<p>The BMC's bid is yet to elicit any response and the corporation is likely to extend the dates of the process.</p>.<p>The MMR has been one of the Covid-19-hotspots, however, over the past fortnight, the per day cases have come down to an average between 5,000 to 6,000 but on average over 100 deaths are being reported every 24 hours.</p>
