Covid vaccination in Maharashtra: Registration for third phase likely to begin from March 1

The guidelines issued by the home department have also restricted the gathering of revellers in the pandal to 10 people, while only five people have been allowed for immersion of the idol.

Maharashtra is expecting registration for the third phase of the Covid-19 vaccination drive to begin from March 1 and actual vaccination in due course thereafter. The state government, meanwhile, has directed the administrations of districts with high positivity and mortality rates to take measures to contain them. It has also continued restrictions on the Maghi Ganeshotsav festival, beginning on February 15, by banning processions, religious and cultural programmes and capping the height of idols to 4 feet for public celebrations and 2 feet for domestic ones.

(Satish Bate/HT Photo)

The guidelines issued by the home department have also restricted the gathering of revellers in the pandal to 10 people, while only five people have been allowed for immersion of the idol.State health minister Rajesh Tope said the state government has not received any instructions from the ministry of health and family welfare for registering beneficiaries of the vaccination in third phase. He said they expect the registration of comorbid people and citizens above 50 years of age to begin from March 1 and their vaccination in the third phase may begin accordingly.

Tope said the state government has been increasing the number of vaccination centres every week and it has reached 652 till Monday. “We have inoculated 468,293 health workers, of the 1,054,000 registered on CoWIN app, and 41,453 frontline workers out of 547,000 registered till Monday. We have enough stock of two vaccines, the centres are well-equipped and the staff is well trained. Although the Centre has not informed us about enrolment for the third phase, we expect it to begin by March 1,” he said.

High number of cases, mortality rate in some of districts has become a cause for concern for state authorities as it was pointed out by the central review team, which visited these places over the weekend. Districts such as Nandurbar (10.68%), Satara (9.21%), Amravati (8.91%) have reported a high weekly positivity rate, against the state rate of 4.51%. Similarly, as many as 11 districts have clocked a high case fatality rate (CFR) of more than 3%, when the state’s rate stands at 2.52%. Ratnagiri (13.64%), Bhandara (7.69%) and Gadchiroli (7.32%) reported highest CFR, as per the health department figures as on February 4. In some districts, such as Parbhani (286), Ratnagiri (527) and Nandurbar (921), the weekly testing per million is too low.

“The districts with the high CFR have been directed to strictly follow the updated protocol of treatment. Death audit committees have been reactivated and the administrations have been directed to strictly follow the 3T principle (tracking, tracing and testing) to contain the spread of the virus. They have also been told to not lower their guard,” Tope said.

According to officials from the health department, the high rate of growth and mortality in these districts is owing to weak public health infrastructure. “These district administrations failed in proper management of ventilators and ICUs and also lagged in tracing and testing of patients. The clinical management cannot be upgraded in a few months when it’s poor for years in these districts. The state government should pay more attention for the upgradation, but at the same time the district administration should go for ample number of tests,” an officer said requesting anonymity.

While the state government has announced to relax the curbs on train timings for the general public, experts say the decision over it should be taken in gradual manner. “There is no rise in cases in MMR despite opening up the trains for all in staggered manner, but cases have not fallen like they do in Delhi. We have been recording 300-400 cases in Mumbai daily, while in Delhi they hover around 100. Corporations in MMR have been taking due care by continuing with aggressive testing and strict implementation of the protocol. More relaxations in the timings for rail commuters can be given in calibrated manner after two weeks,” said Dr Avinash Supe, head of the state-appointed deaths audit committee.

In another round of vaccination on Tuesday, 23,721 health care workers (HCWs) and frontline workers were inoculated at 515 centres across the state. Of them, 11,378 were frontline workers and 12,343 were HCWs. The total number of beneficiaries has touched 536,197, which include 481,607 HCWs and 54,590 frontline workers.

The turnout for the drive dropped to 45.76%, as at least 51,500 beneficiaries were targeted to be vaccinated on Tuesday. The turnout remained low as around 10 districts took a break from the drive. The highest number, 7,735 beneficiaries, were reported in Mumbai, followed by Thane (3,935)and Palghar (1,421).