Maharashtra fails to achieve target of 1.5 million doses for 2nd day of special Covid vaccination drive

The Maharashtra government failed to achieve the target of vaccinating 1.5 million Covid vaccination doses for the second day in a row of ‘Mission Kavach Kundal’, a special drive, which was launched from October 8

The Maharashtra government failed to achieve the target of vaccinating 1.5 million doses for the second day in a row of ‘Mission Kavach Kundal’, a special drive, which was launched from October 8. As many as 828,817 doses were inoculated on Saturday, while on Friday, 739,100 doses were administered to the beneficiaries as per the data available on the Co-Win portal.

The Maharashtra government failed to achieve the target of vaccinating 1.5 million doses for the second day in a row of ‘Mission Kavach Kundal’, a special drive, which was launched from October 8 (HT PHOTO)

On Thursday, state health minister Rajesh Tope announced the launch of ‘Mission Kavach Kundal’, a seven-day special campaign to boost its vaccination drive starting from October 8. It had set a target of vaccinating a minimum 1.5 million doses in a day. It is also looking to prioritise covering the first dose of all the citizens at the earliest. This will help in reducing the severity of the Covid infections even if the potential third wave hits the state, Tope had said.

The maximum number of beneficiaries covered in a day in the state is 1.4 million. As many as 1,439,809 doses were vaccinated on September 8.

Both the health minister and additional chief secretary Dr Pradeep Vyas did not reply to the calls and text messages.

The state recorded 44 deaths and the toll stood at 139,514. Satara reported the highest toll with 11 deaths as its tally stood at 6,344.

Covid-19 situation in Maharashtra is under control as the average daily cases are on the decline for the last few months. The drop in active cases has also been constant for the past two weeks. It has reached its lowest tally since February 5 when 33,936 cases were reported.

However, Ahmednagar continued to record the second-highest cases in the entire state after Mumbai. On Saturday it clocked 364 cases, of them, 340 cases were recorded in the district and 24 in the city.

As many as 61 villages in Ahmednagar district are under a 10-day lockdown that was imposed on October 4. According to the order issued by the district collector Rajendra Bhosale, all shops, except essential ones will remain shut till October 13, while the assembly of more than five people has also been prohibited in these villages. Even though the state has allowed physical classes in schools for limited classes, they will not open in the 61 villages of the district until October 13 at least. It is also likely to be extended if the situation is not improved, said the district collector.

Ahmednagar has reported a total of 334,723 cases to date and has 3,803 active cases at present.

There are predictions that a potential third wave may hit the state by December or January next year. Officials are still worried about the upcoming festive season as there are chances of a spike in cases post-Navratri, Dussehra and Diwali festivals that are falling in October and November.

With 510 cases, Mumbai reported the highest number of cases in the entire state and its tally reached a total 748,095 cases to date. It also recorded three fatalities taking the toll to 16,152.

In the past 24 hours, the state tested 142,647 samples and had a positivity rate of 1.74%. However, the overall positivity rate of the state stood at 10.95%, according to the data issued by the state health department.