At 76%, Maharashtra sees its highest turnout for Covid vaccine so far

Maharashtra on Friday inoculated 21,610 healthcare workers (HCWs) across 282 centres in the state’s fourth vaccination drive so far. The state achieved its highest percentage of turnout on Friday at 76%, owing to the decision to allow walk-ins for HCWs at the centres to get the vaccine. Mumbai recorded 92% turnout on Friday and vaccinated 3,539 HCWs against the expected 3,852, Mumbai civic body said.

Dr Pradeep Vyas, state health secretary, said since the vaccination drive commenced on January 16, 74,000 HCWs in Maharashtra have been inoculated.

Of the shots given on Friday, 318 were Covaxin, developed by Bharat Biotech, Vyas said. With the next vaccination session scheduled for Saturday, the state could get close to the landmark of vaccinating 100,000 HCWs.

Maharashtra’s Beed, Hingoli, Amravati and Wardha districts saw more HCWs trickling at the vaccine centres than targeted. According to a state health department official, the decision to allow all registered HCWs to voluntarily come at centres without prior appointment has helped the state boost its numbers.

Beed district, according to a statement from the health department, recorded 151% turnout with 757 people being vaccinated, while Hingoli saw a 117% turnout with 234 HCWs being inoculated. Centres in Amravati saw inoculation of 557 HCWs and registered a turnout of 111%. Wardha saw inoculation of 657 HCWs which was a 110% turnout, the statement added. Meanwhile, Osmanabad district saw a turnout of 103% with 309 HCWs getting the shot.

“We had anticipated an increase in numbers. The entire jump in numbers cannot be attributed to just allowing walk-ins. Some percentage of doctors and HCWs are gradually coming on their scheduled day as well. There is a hesitance (among people), but it will go with time; with them seeing little or no adverse effects to their colleagues,” said a senior health department official who did not wish to be named.

Buldhana and Pune districts, meanwhile, were at the bottom in terms of turnout against target. Buldhana saw a 43% turnout with 256 HCWs getting the vaccine. Pune, which has 28% of the state’s active caseload with 12,926 cases, reported 44% turnout with 1,275 HCWs being vaccinated on Friday.

CoWIN app, meanwhile, continued to have issues including slow performance and erratic functioning, officials said. “We have had complaints from some districts, but these are teething issues. The app is being updated by the Centre. The districts are recording data offline and have been instructed to upload them when the app works,” an official said requesting anonymity.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra on Friday reported 2,779 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking the state’s tally to 2,003,657. The active caseload in the state stood at 44,926. Mumbai reported 483 new cases, pushing the tally to 305,136.

The state also reported 50 fatalities on Friday, taking the death toll to 50,684. Of the 50 deaths reported, 28 occurred in the past 48 hours and eight in the past week. The remaining 14 deaths are from the period before last week, a health department bulletin said. The case fatality rate in the state is 2.53%.

Maharashtra also recorded 3,419 discharges, taking the tally of recovered patients to 1,906,827. The state’s recovery rate has improved to 95.17%.