Allocate Covid-19 vaccines based on population, active cases: Maharashtra to Centre

“The criteria should be decided in terms of the size of the population and the number of active cases,” Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope said.

Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope on Saturday asked the Centre to fix criteria to allocate states vaccines against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) keeping in mind the number of people and the active caseload they have. Tope once again alleged that many states, which have a lesser population than Maharashtra, have received more doses of the vaccine from the Centre. “The criteria should be decided in terms of the size of the population and the number of active cases,” Tope was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Mumbai: People wait for their turn to receive a dose of COVID-19 vaccine, as coronavirus cases surge in Mumbai, Saturday, April 10, 2021. (PTI Photo/Kunal Patil)(PTI04_10_2021_000145B) (PTI)

Maharashtra has claimed there is a shortage of Covid-19 vaccine in the state, setting it on a collision course with the Centre. Several senior Union ministers, including health minister Harsh Vardhan, have dismissed the claim made by the western state, which is the worst-hit region in the country, saying they were attempts to hide their incompetence.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader also said that the Centre had earmarked only 700,000 doses to Maharashtra of the latest dispatch of 3.5 crore. Another 1 million doses were allotted for the state only after “much persuasion,” Tope said according to PTI.

He also said that the vaccine is the only way to develop immunity against the coronavirus disease. “We have scaled up the daily vaccination up to 6 lakh people. Weekly we are able to vaccinate 40 lakh people and monthly around 1.60 crore... We need vaccine accordingly. Where there are more cases, it is necessary that we develop immunity and vaccine is the only answer,” Tope said.

Expressing concerns over the transport of vaccine doses to the many vaccination centres in the state, Tope said “Today we have 8 lakh doses available and we have been told we will get four lakh doses in a day. If the supply of doses is on a daily basis, how will the vaccines be transported to other parts of the state on time?” He also alleged that the central government was not addressing such concerns seriously.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) announced on Friday night that for three days beginning April 10, vaccination would be done only at government and municipal hospitals and not at private centres, citing non-availability of stock. Also, as many as 75 out of the 120 vaccination centres across the city were shut due to a shortage of vaccine doses, PTI reported.

While the Centre has denied any shortage in vaccine supplies, few other states have followed Maharashtra’s suit and have asked for more stock. Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, saying that the state has stock only for two more days and needed 30 lakh more doses immediately. On Saturday, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh during a meeting with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi said that the supplies in Punjab would last for three more days if 2lakh beneficiaries were vaccinated a day, news agency ANI reported.

Meanwhile, the Union health ministry’s data on Saturday morning showed that 98,075,160 people have been vaccinated in the country as of 7am.

(With inputs from agencies)