Maharashtra suspends vaccination drive for 18-44 age group

The Maharashtra government on Wednesday decided to temporarily suspend the vaccination drive for the 18-44 years category and divert the vaccines that it purchased for that age group to provide second doses for those above 45, due to a shortage of available doses required to curb the spread of Covi

The Maharashtra government on Wednesday decided to temporarily suspend the vaccination drive for the 18-44 years category and divert the vaccines that it purchased for that age group to provide second doses for those above 45, due to a shortage of available doses required to curb the spread of Covid-19.

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Following a state cabinet meeting on Wednesday, health minister Rajesh Tope said that the state government would divert the stock it has purchased for inoculation of people between 18 and 44 to ensure that those who require their second dose get it on time.

“The government has decided to temporarily suspend the vaccination of 18-44 category. The Centre is unable to provide second doses for the national programme to vaccinate people above age 45. There is a due date to these doses and therefore it is essential to give the second dose in time. Therefore, whatever stock Maharashtra government has purchased for 18-44 category, will now be diverted for vaccination of over 45,” Tope said.

He added that people should not “expect” their first dose as providing second dose to the people has become the state’s priority now.

The recommended time period between the first and second doses of Covaxin and Covishield is between 28 days and 42 days in the case of the former, and 42 to 56 days in the case of the latter.

The third phase of the national vaccination drive permitted states to procure vaccines for 18-44 year olds directly from the manufacturer, while the Centre would continue to procure and distribute vaccines to states for the 45 years and above age group, health care workers, frontline workers and other priority groups.

At least 350,000 vaccines were bought by the state government for the 18-44 years category, whose vaccination was permitted by the Centre starting May 1. As of May 12, around 1 million vaccines were available from the stock of both the categories. The Centre’s supply to the states comes in every five to seven days: the last batch of vaccines arrived on May 9. More than 2 million people are due for their second doses, government estimates showed.

“We have 1 million doses available with us, including 700,000 Covishield and 300,000 Covaxin. The vaccines that the Centre provides in the next two-three days, will be used for second doses only. For now, do not expect first dose, as we have to finish the second doses of people. We will take a decision [to restart] based on the availability after five to seven days,” Tope said.

The state cabinet also decided that chief minister Uddhav Thackeray will write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi explaining to him the vaccination situation in the state.

The vaccination drive in Maharashtra has been marred with lack of vaccines though the state tops the country with highest vaccination count with 18.8 million doses till May 11. Of these, 3.6 million belong to the priority categories. The state has inoculated 596,091 people in the third phase of the vaccination drive till May 11. Around 90 million people are eligible for the vaccine in Maharashtra.

A senior health department official said that the state has been “aggressive” on the vaccination drive as it is the only way to arrest the magnitude of possible third wave. “Since the beginning, Maharashtra did not get enough doses. We have shown our capabilities to vaccinate 450,000 and 500,000 people in a day. But the inflow has been slow and fewer. We need around 1.5 million or 2 million doses weekly to go at a good pace. State has been aggressive in immunisation plan. Even when we did not have adequate doses, chief minister insisted that we should start the drive, as part of the preparation for the third wave,” the official requesting anonymity said.

Tope said that Serum Institute of India, which manufactures Covishield, informed the chief minister that it would provide 1.5 million doses per month after May 20. “After that supply starts, we can then take a decision to restart 18-44 category’s vaccination. For now, our priority remains giving second dose for people over 45,” the minister added.

Among those eligible for the second dose, 1.6 million are for Covishield and 400,000 for Covaxin.

The health minister reiterated that the state government is unable to plan for the vaccination of 18-44 category as there are only two vaccine manufacturers in the country and the Centre is not giving its approval to allow import of foreign vaccines. Tope said that they discussed floating global tenders for foreign vaccines but are stuck due to Centre’s clearance.

“Many in the cabinet have asked to include vaccines in the global tenders. But first the Centre has to give permission for these vaccines including, Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson. Besides that, the cold chain has to be readied as these vaccines have to be kept in sub-zero temperatures, unlike our [Indian] vaccines which are between 2 to 8 degrees Celsius. If the Centre gives its approval, the state government has no hurdles to go in for global tenders for vaccination,” he said.