Maha 1st state to administer over 10mn doses

Days since the Centre-state feud over vaccine shortage broke out, more than 1,000 centres across the state have been shut and there has been a drop of 73% in the number of doses administered

Days since the Centre-state feud over vaccine shortage broke out, more than 1,000 centres across the state have been shut and there has been a drop of 73% in the number of doses administered.

HT Image

However, amid the war of words, Maharashtra has become the first state to administer more than 10 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine. It has administered 10,038,421 doses till Sunday morning, highest in the country so far, said Dr Pradeep Vyas, principal secretary, state health department.

In a text reply to HT, N Ramaswamy, commissioner, national health commission, said the state received 743,280 doses of vaccine on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, it received 877,890 doses and is expected to receive another 522,110 doses on Monday.

On April 6, a day before health minister Rajesh Tope said the state was facing a shortage, Maharashtra had administered 388,071 vaccine doses across 4,239 centres. However, the numbers dropped to 282,944 doses in 2,849 centres on Saturday, as per data released by the health department on Sunday morning.

Many vaccination centres started closing down starting April 8, as the doses exhausted.

In a press conference earlier this week, Tope said the Centre is expected to supply 17 lakh doses post-April 15. Deputy chief minister, Ajit Pawar, on Saturday, also said the situation will be normal in the coming days. Maharashtra is aiming to administer 6 lakh doses per day and has been demanding 40 lakh doses per week from the Centre. On Saturday, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said the state aims to increase vaccination coverage amid an increasing number of cases.

He said, “Increasing vaccination coverage is the need of the hour. The youth must be vaccinated. Pfizer is planning to vaccinate adolescents between 12 and 15 years of age.” In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, Thackeray also demanded opening vaccination for all above 25 years of age.

On Sunday, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spokesperson and minister for minority affairs Nawab Malik questioned the BJP’s alleged free distribution of Remdesvir in Gujarat. He tweeted, “There is shortage of Remdesvir in the country and the BJP is distributing it for free in its office in Gujarat. Is this is not politicisation?”

BJP leader and leader of opposition in the legislative council Pravin Darekar, however, released a statement saying the state government must concentrate on strengthening its own healthcare before commenting on other states. “This is not a battle between two governments. This is a battle against Covid-19. Instead of wasting time in political commentary, the state must strengthen its healthcare system,” Darekar said.