The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is setting up a new COVID-19 vaccine storage facility at one its buildings in Kanjurmarg, officials said on Wednesday.
The new vaccine storage facility will be in addition to the existing cold storage facilities at four civic-run hospitals in the city, said BMC's additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani.
Currently, the Sion Hospital, Nair Hospital, KEM Hospital and Cooper Hospital in Mumbai have vaccine storage facilities, he said.
These hospitals have a limited vaccine storage capacity, which is sufficient for the ongoing vaccination programmes but inadequate for the forthcoming COVID-19 vaccination, Kakani said.
BMC aims to make the facility ready before this year ends and is initiating the process of procurement of coolers and freezers for the storage of COVID-19 vaccines at low temperatures, he said.
The new vaccine storage facility is being set up considering the city''s need for extensive COVID-19 vaccination, and it would be used for long-term, he said.
Kakani said for the storage of vaccines, they are going to install two "walk-in coolers and freezers" each, which could maintain temperature between 2 to 8 degree Celsius and -25 to -15 degree Celsius, respectively.