Please pay for Covid-19 vaccines, if you can: Maha deputy CM Ajit Pawar urges

Maharashtra has said it has been facing a shortage of Covid-19 vaccines, which has put a brake on its aim of inoculating more than 600,000 people daily and has forced many centres to shut down.

Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said on Saturday people who can afford the vaccine doses against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) should pay even as the government is preparing to inoculate all adults in the state in the next phase of vaccination from May 1. “We may appeal from tomorrow that if somebody can afford to pay for the vaccine, they should pay for it. And for those poor people who can't afford it, the government will do it for them,” Ajit Pawar said, according to news agency ANI.

The state has 57.1 million people in the 18-44 age group, which will be vaccinated against Covid-19 next in the country’s drive to battle the second, deadly wave of the pandemic.(HT Photo)

“Remdesivir and vaccine supply will be streamlined only when the Centre allows import from outside. We are of the opinion that when vaccination starts we will try to purchase vaccines from India as much as possible but if the Centre allows and helps to import, it will be helpful. We will pay,” he added.

The state has 57.1 million people in the 18-44 age group and will be vaccinated next in the country’s drive to battle the second, deadly wave of the pandemic. Officials have said Maharashtra will need more than 110 million vaccine doses for those under this age group and the government will have to procure them. They are apprehensive about the availability of doses and also about the high rates ascertained for the vaccines.

Maharashtra’s health minister Rajesh Tope said on Friday that they demanded One Nation One Rate of the vaccine during the meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi “so we could easily implement the vaccination drive aggressively.” “Not only Maharashtra's, but most chief ministers who attended the video conference have also demanded this. The state has its own financial constraints, although we will bear the cost of inoculation for the poor. The reduction in rates will help us vaccinate more people for free, otherwise, we will have to restrict free inoculation to the poor. In that case, we will try and rope in corporate houses and the private sector,” Rajesh Tope added.

The state may not be able to achieve its target of aggressive inoculation in the absence of availability of stock, Tope also said. “The Serum Institute of India has expressed inability to supply the stock until May 24. We have been talking to Bharat Biotech. The decision over implementation of the third phase of inoculation and free vaccination for the poor based on the financial burden will be taken in the cabinet meeting,” he said.

Maharashtra has said it has been facing a shortage of Covid-19 vaccines, which has put a brake on its aim of inoculating more than 600,000 people daily and has forced many centres in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and other parts of the state to shut down. The daily average of inoculation dropped to 291,961 over the last week, from 370,058 in the first week of the month. The state has so far received, 14,416,780 doses from the Centre till April 20, against which 13,980,023 doses have been administered to 12.17 million people till 5pm on Friday.

As the western state, which is the worst hit in the country, has also been battling a shortage of oxygen, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said plants that were closed in Maharashtra have been restarted. “So far we used to get 240-250 MT of oxygen but now we got the information that it has been reduced to 125 MT. We request them (the Centre) to not reduce our 250 MT quota from Jamnagar,” he was quoted as saying by ANI.

Maharashtra’s caseload rose to 41,61,676 and its death toll reached 63,252 on Friday as the state reported 66,836 cases of the coronavirus disease and 773 fatalities. On Thursday, the state logged 67,013 Covid-19 cases and 568 deaths.