Speed bumps ahead for Maharashtra’s vaccination drive

Amid a shortage of Covaxin doses, Maharashtra has received 36,000 doses of the vaccine manufactured by Bharat Biotech, expected to be used for the second dose.

Amid a shortage of Covaxin doses, Maharashtra has received 36,000 doses of the vaccine manufactured by Bharat Biotech, expected to be used for the second dose. The state on Sunday received 703,000 doses of Covishield for inoculation of people over 45 years, which would help the state continue its drive, albeit at a slow pace. Maharashtra also received the 350,000 doses of Covishield it purchased from the Serum Institute of India for vaccination of the 18-44 age group category.

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On Saturday, the state health department had written a letter to the Centre, urgently seeking Covaxin doses, as over 500,000 people from the age group of above 45 years were due for their second dose. State immunisation officer DN Patil said the state has received “only 36,000 doses of Covaxin” and the state is expecting more in the coming week. “On Sunday, we received 703,000 doses of Covishield and only 36,000 doses of Covaxin for the vaccination of people over age 45. Besides that, we received 350,000 Covishield vaccines, which the state government has purchased for vaccination of people in the 18-44 category. All the doses have been shipped out to various districts and the drive will continue,” Patil said.

Over the past three days, the state’s daily vaccination numbers have seen a dip for want of doses. On Thursday, state inoculated 455,109 beneficiaries, followed by 363,765 on Friday. On Saturday, the state inoculated 236,960 beneficiaries. On Sunday, figures on the CoWin portal showed that the state inoculated 109,276 beneficiaries. So far, the state has fully vaccinated 3,350,633 beneficiaries, while 14,710,907 have taken their first shot. Tope on Sunday said the vaccination drive in the state is going on at a “slow pace” due to unavailability of adequate number of doses. He said the state’s priority is to vaccinate the 57.1 million population in the 18-44 category, but wants the Centre to clear the hurdles of permissions to procure foreign vaccines.

“Currently, our vaccination drive is going on in a slow pace because vaccines are not being made available. Chief minister has clearly said that Maharashtra has to potential to purchase 120 million doses in one go, but availability is the main issue. The Centre must intervene in this matter and make vaccine doses available for Maharashtra. The vaccination of 18-44 category is crucial as the age group steps out of their homes. If the government gives permission, we can procure Sputnik or other foreign vaccines for the citizens of our state. There are several approvals needed from the Centre,” Tope said.