PUNE The Pune Municipal Corporation has signed a PPP (public-private partnership) agreement with VaccineOnWheels (VOW), a doctor-based mobile vaccination clinic, for on-ground Covid-19 vaccination.

VaccineOnWheels and PMC together will provide vaccination services to adults and elderly people by setting up vaccination booths near communities with the aim of increasing immunisation penetration.

The vaccination clinic will deploy 15 units, wherein each unit will administer 150 doses of Covid vaccines a day, once supply of doses resumes.

As part of the protocol, every vaccination booth will have a qualified doctor, nurses and healthcare support staff, along with one ambulance on standby for any emergency support required in case of AEFI (adverse event following immunisation).

Rubal Agarwal, additional commissioner, PMC, said, “Currently, the best remedy available is to get everybody vaccinated at the earliest. With this new initiative, we aim to accelerate the immunisation rate for PMC, and Maharashtra.”

According to Agarwal, the firm will supply 15 VOW vehicles. “We will deploy them for vaccination at workplaces. Once government allows, then we will use them in all slums on a priority basis. Everything will be free,” she said.

VaccineOnWheels, in partnership with Rotary Club of Pune Central, will bring together NGOs and CSR partners to fund various resources required to deploy 15 mobile vaccination units to immunise 0.1 million people in a month, within the Pune Municipal Corporation area.

Its unique PPP model will undertake a complex orchestration of multiple activities – from procurement to deployment, awareness to mobilisation, and registration to inoculation, with support of multiple stakeholders.

The organization aims to immunize one million Indians in a span of eight to 12 months, in partnerships with various state governments.

Jignesh Patel, founder and CEO, VaccineonWheels, said, “We are happy to serve Maharashtra and India with our doctor-based mobile vaccination clinic service, especially in these times when the state is among the worst hit with second wave of Covid. Our PPP model will enable stakeholder collaboration across industries, government, and NGOs at the grassroots level.”

A similar drive has already been launched in PCMC VaccineOnWheels is introducing five units and the first unit was rolled out on April 17. This unit has immunised 2,000 people at an average of 200 immunisations per day