State may cross 20-mn vaccination mark this weekend

Maharashtra on Friday inoculated over 150,000 beneficiaries, inching towards becoming the first state in the country to administer 20 million doses by the weekend

Maharashtra on Friday inoculated over 150,000 beneficiaries, inching towards becoming the first state in the country to administer 20 million doses by the weekend. The state is currently short of around 300,000 inoculations to achieve the landmark.

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Meanwhile, the second shot for people over 45 years of age is expected to get a boost this weekend, as Maharashtra is expecting a batch of vaccines from the Centre on Friday night or in the wee hours of Saturday, officials said. A day after the Union government said the second shot of Covishield should be taken between 12 and 16 weeks after the first jab, from the earlier six to eight weeks, the state anticipates easing of the rush. However, there is no clarity from the state on how many citizens will be eligible for the second dose once the new gap is implemented. As per the state government’s estimates, currently 1.6 million people are due for their second shot of Covishield and 400,000 for Covaxin. However, the Centre has not provided any stock of the Bharat Biotech-manufactured vaccine since Sunday, a senior health department official said.

The civic body has decided to suspend vaccination on Saturday and Sunday.

The health department officials said they will give preference to second dose in the drive. The state is planning to keep 80% of the vaccine doses received for second dose and 20% for first dose, an official said. The state has already decided to divert around 900,000 doses, including the doses it purchased for 18-44 years category, and utilise for the second doses of people over 45 years. From Monday, for three days in a week, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has allowed walk-in for people over 60 years and differently abled at vaccination centres.

“There is a discussion to bring down the proportion from 60:40 to 80:20 to finish the second doses. Even if the interval has been increased by the Centre, the department, through the state government, will continue to demand higher number of doses to cater to the demand,” said an official requesting anonymity.

Over the past seven days, the state has administered 1,490,994 shots, of which 59.16% or 882,101 are second. The state has averaged 212,999 doses daily between May 8 and 14. On May 14, the state administered doses to 150,926, including 96,336 second shots, data from the Co-WIN portal showed. So far, the state had administered 19,700,398 shots since January 16, when the vaccination drive began in the country.