Maharashtra vaccinated record 3.33million people against Covid in a week

More than 3.33 million Covid-19 vaccine doses were administered in the past week across Maharashtra, its highest weekly tally, after the inoculation drive was ramped up nationwide from June 21. Also, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday said the state is fully prepared to vaccinate 1.5 million people daily.

Between June 21 and June 27, 3,343,921 doses were administered, the highest seven-day figure since vaccination started on January 16. A week before (June 14-June 20) 1,594,964 doses were administered in the state. With over 31.77 million doses administered till Monday, Maharashtra tops the country, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 30.99 million jabs, according to figures from CoWIN portal.

Meanwhile, the state recorded 6,727 cases on Monday, taking the tally to 6,043,548. The state also reported 101 more deaths, taking the toll to 1,21,573. With 18 new deaths in Mumbai, the city’s toll touched 15,414.

The total number of active patients in Maharashtra currently stands at 117,874. There were 166,163 tests done on Monday, while the number of recoveries clocked 10,812. The highest number of active patients (17,042 ) are seen in Pune, followed by Thane, at 16,141 patients. On the vaccination front, there were 615, 273 doses administered across the state on Monday, thus bringing the total to 31,770,849 doses.

State immunisation officer Dr DN Patil said it all depends on the doses received from the central government. “We have the necessary infrastructure and planning in place. Our drive depends on the number of doses supplied by the central government,” said Dr Patil.

Thackeray said the state has been very aggressive in this front. “We are fully prepared to vaccinate 1,500,000 citizens daily,” said Thackeray. Meanwhile, state chief secretary Sitaram Kunte held a meeting of district collectors and municipal commissioners, asking them to work out a detailed plan to tackle a potential third wave. He stressed on the coordination between major cities with the small towns. He said that all should ensure adequate liquid-oxygen supply, along with hospital beds and medical personnel.

The state has also now taken level three as its base, in terms of lockdown relaxations, and hence places like Pune, Navi Mumbai and Thane, which had opened up, were forced to roll back their relaxations from Monday in view of the Delta Plus variant of Covid-19.

Meanwhile, traders at Kolhapur have given a two-day ultimatum to the state government to allow them to open their shops. Their contention is that the Covid-19 cases are higher in rural parts and the urban shopkeepers are being unnecessarily penalised for this surge. In Nagpur, traders expressed unhappiness as authorities arrived to shut their shops at 4pm.