Pune’s ‘Vaccine On Wheels’ Vaccinates Over 4000 Vulnerable People Free Of Cost

by Tania Tarafdar
Pune’s ‘Vaccine On Wheels’ Vaccinates Over 4000 Vulnerable People Free Of Cost

Vaccination drive to everyone above 18 officially started on May 1. But due to the shortage of vaccines in Maharashtra, the state had to keep the inoculation process at a halt. But in the meanwhile, The Pune Municipal Corporation has deployed Vaccine On Wheels to assist with the ongoing COVID-19 inoculation drive in one of Maharashtra’s worst-hit districts in Maharashtra.

Pune’s Vaccine on Wheels is reaching out to the vulnerable age group like senior citizens at old age homes, mentally challenged people at rehabilitation homes, commercial sex workers, HIV-positive persons, and labourers to administer the Covid-19 vaccine. A month since they initiated the free-of-cost vaccine, over 4,000 beneficiaries have been inoculated as part of this effort.

VOW In Pune Is Setting Up Vaccination Booths

At Pune, the VOW’s first such COVID-19 vaccination initiative was taken up with Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation from April 7 and now it has joined hands with the PMC. VaccineOnWheels, India’s first and only doctor based mobile vaccination clinic, dedicated to serve the underprivileged communities in India, announced that the organization has entered in a PPPservice agreement with Pune Municipal Corporation as its on-ground Covid-19 vaccination administration partner. VaccineOnWheels and PMC together will provide vaccination services to adults and elderly people by setting up vaccination booths near communities with an ultimate aim of increasing immunization penetration. VaccineOnWheels will deploy 15 vaccination units, wherein each unit will administer around 150 doses of Covid vaccines a day.

Also read: Can It Be Safe To Travel After The First Dose Of Vaccination? Here’s What You Need To Know

Vaccination On Wheels Will Accelerate Immunisation Rate

On the occasion, VOW’s founder Jignesh Patel said, “The Covid pandemic has already affected many lives and unfortunately we are being hit by a second wave that is spreading fast. Currently, the best remedy available is to get everybody vaccinated at the earliest. With this new initiative, we aim to accelerate the immunization rate for PMC and the state of Maharashtra by helping people to get vaccinated.”

Also read: COVID Vaccination Policy: Everything About The Inoculation Drive That Starts From May 1

 

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Pune’s Mobile Vaccination Unit Plans To Expand To Other Cities

While the government will supply the infrastructure and vaccines, VOW`s team would help with administering the vaccines. In partnership with the Rotary Club, VOW plans to deploy 15 such mobile vaccination units in Pune to immunize around 100,000 citizens in Pune city. VOW also plans to expand to other cities later.

Also read: You Can Now Get COVID-19 Vaccination At Your Workplace; Here Everything To Know

VOW was launched in December 2019 as a mobile vaccination centre and has now ventured into the COVID-19 vaccination campaign.