Rajesh Tope seeks more Covid-19 vaccine, cites high infection rate in Maharashtra

Despite becoming the first state in India to administer both doses of the vaccine to more than 10 million eligible beneficiaries, Maharashtra continues to suffer from a shortage of doses.

Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday reiterated the demand for more vaccines against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) saying a majority of the cases are from the western state and the death rate due to the viral disease is also high.

Tope, along with chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, has earlier urged the Centre to provide 30 million vaccine doses per month. (AFP file photo)

Despite becoming the first state in India to administer both doses of the vaccine to more than 10 million eligible beneficiaries, Maharashtra continues to suffer from a shortage of doses.

The Covid-19 vaccination drive was suspended several times across cities and districts due to the shortage, affecting the inoculation rate. Till now, the state has vaccinated 42,352,467 beneficiaries of which 3,19,89,665 have received the first dose and the remaining 10,362,802 have received both doses.

“We should receive a supply of vaccines because most cases are found in our state and the death rate is also high. We want to immunize the people as soon as possible. In this way, the effect of the third wave in the state would be less,” Tope said, while addressing reporters on Wednesday.

Tope, along with chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, has earlier urged the Centre to provide 30 million vaccine doses per month. Two weeks back, he (Tope) said that the state has a capacity to administer doses to 1.5 million beneficiaries on a daily basis but only 200,000 to 300,000 were being inoculated per day due to scarcity of vaccines.

On being asked about the upcoming third wave of the pandemic, the Maharashtra health minister said on Wednesday that the state government is preparing for it, adding it has laid emphasis on paediatrics in accordance with the Centre and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

“The surge in cases in Kerala can be seen as the beginning of the third wave. In Maharashtra, we are preparing for it. According to the govt and ICMR we’ve laid emphasis on paediatrics. We’ve kept oxygen, beds, medical staff and medicines prepared,” Tope said.

Maharashtra on Tuesday recorded 6,258 fresh cases and 254 more deaths due to the coronavirus disease, taking the caseload and death toll to 6,276,057 and 131,859 deaths, respectively, according to the health department’s bulletin.

As many as 12,645 recovered from the viral disease on Tuesday and the cumulative count of recoveries has climbed to 6,058,751. The active cases in the state have further come down to 82,082, the bulletin said.