Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday hit out at vaccinated citizens who were lowering their guards amid fears of an impending third wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
Pawar said a survey had revealed about 19 per cent people who were inoculated with the first dose of vaccines against Covid-19 were getting infected with the virus, while another 0.25 per cent of fully jabbed individuals were testing positive.
Citing expert opinions and warnings, the senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader said citizens must continue to take precautions and follow Covid-appropriate behaviour even when the government decided to ease restrictions.
Speaking at an event in Pune, Pawar said, “We conducted a survey and found that around 0.19 per cent of people who have taken first dose are found infected with Covid-19 and around 0.25 per cent people were found infected after taking both doses of vaccine.”
Also read | Maharashtra to decide on lifting Covid restrictions after a week
{{/usCountry}}Also read | Maharashtra to decide on lifting Covid restrictions after a week
{{/usCountry}}“On consulting experts, we were informed that those who have taken both the doses are not following Covid protocol and exposing themselves to the virus. Experts say even when we are easing restrictions, citizens must take precautions and follow protocol,” Pawar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
According to last updated data, Maharashtra, one of the worst-hit states in terms of the both waves of the pandemic, registered 3,063 new Covid-19 cases and 56 fresh deaths on Thursday, taking the infection tally to 65,50,856 and the toll to 1,39,067.
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The state now has 36,484 active cases with 3,198 patients being declared cured in the last 24 hours. So far, Maharashtra has administered 8,18,94,965 doses of vaccines against the virus.
With the pandemic scenario improving, the government is considering lifting the remaining restrictions after reviewing the situation after the first week of October.
On Tuesday, Pawar had said the state authorities would meet after October 8 and if the cases continued to decline, the government would lift the remaining restrictions that are still in force in the state.