96 pc of Mumbai's Covid patients on oxygen support are unvaccinated: BMC chief

People have started rushing to take the vaccine after the surge in cases started

PTI12_29_2021_000187B Crowd at a Mumbai railway station | PTI

An overwhelming majority of Covid-19 patients on oxygen support, treated at Mumbai's hospitals, are unvaccinated people, said Brihanmumbai Corporation (BMC) municipal commissioner Iqbal Chahal. 

Doctors at city officials informed Hindustan Times that most of those requiring additional support were unvaccinated people who are above 50 years, highlighting the importance of vaccine in dealing with the current Covid crisis. 

“Out of the around 1,900 Covid patients who were on oxygenated beds, around 96 percent are unvaccinated and only 4 pc are vaccinated,” BMC commissioner Iqbal Chahal told Hindustan Times. 

There are more than 22,000 active beds available for Covid-19 patients in Mumbai city and around 50 percent of them are oxygen beds.

BMC has taken measures to deal with any surge in requirement. The civic body chief told the newspaper that 80 pc of the city’s Covid beds are so far unoccupied and they anticipate a surge in the number of patients. “Our experts from the Covid Taskforce have told me that in Mumbai may even go up to say 40,000 cases daily. This may or may not happen but we will come out comfortably out of this considering the cooperation from citizens,” he said. 

Mumbai has a production capacity of 200 tonnes of oxygen per day, which would be sufficent to meet the rising demand.

Speaking to Hindustan Times, Infectious disease expert Dr Om Srivastava, who is a member of the Covid-19 task force, said: “Many of these patients seem to have rushed to take the vaccine after the surge in cases started, perhaps battling the initial hesitancy towards vaccination." 

Dr Srivastava said that Omicron patients may not require oxygen as it largely affects the upper respiratory area.