Vaccine underutilised: Sena MP writes to Centre as Maha sees Covid-19 surge

In Maharashtra, a total of 8,39,566 people have been vaccinated so far including those who have completed both their doses.

As Maharashtra is seeing a fresh surge of Covid-19 cases, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi has written to Union health minister Harsh Vardhan urging him to increase the number of vaccination centres not only in Maharashtra but across the country. In her letter, she also broached the issues of Co-WIN app, vaccine price for the public etc.

A health worker takes a swab sample of a passenger at Bandra train station in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. Health officials have detected a spike in COVID-19 cases in several pockets of Maharashtra state, including in Mumbai, the country's financial capital. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) (AP)

"As per the health ministry data, Covid-19 vaccine supplies are under-utilised. In fact, the data of vaccine supplies shows that only 31.45% of Covishield and 11.75% of Covaxin have been administered to frontline workers. If this is the case, then shouldn't we reconsider our policy of regulating the availability of vaccines?" she wrote.

In Maharashtra, a total of 8,39,566 people have been vaccinated so far including those who have completed both their doses.

"All states are administering it (vaccines) to our frontline warriors and many have started the second round of dosage too. However, our population is large..." she wrote adding that private hospitals should be roped in the immunisation drive.

On Thursday, Maharashtra reported 5,427 new Covid-19 cases after the number of cases remained below 5,000 for 75 days.

The surge has forced the administration of Yavatmal district to impose a 10-day lockdown starting from Thursday night. Amravati district also announced a weekend lockdown from 8pm on Saturday to 7am on Monday.