On Maharashta Vaccine SOS, Centre Clarifies 1.06 Crore Doses Given, 7.43 Lakh More Being Sent

Maharashtra has been provided 1.06 crore vaccine doses till date, out of which 90.53 lakh jabs have been consumed and 7.43 lakh doses are being sent, government sources told CNN-News18 on Wednesday. A senior state health official had earlier said the state would run out of the Covid-19 vaccine stock in a day or two and the Centre has been informed about it.

Principal secretary (health) Pradeep Vyas had earlier said that as on Wednesday morning the state has around 14 lakh vaccine doses.

“Many districts will run out of the stock today or tomorrow. The Centre is aware of the situation and (we) have also communicated in writing,” he said. Maharashtra can easily administer five lakh vaccine shots in a day if there is a clarity on schedule and availability, the official said.

For the last few days, the state has been vaccinating about four lakh people daily. Nearly 82 lakh people have been vaccinated so far in Maharashtra since the roll-out of the inoculation drive.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow people above 25 years to receive COVID-19 shots, which he said will protect the young people from the rapid spread of the viral infection at a time when they are stepping outside their homes to earn a livelihood. In a letter to the PM, Thackeray also demanded that Maharashtra be provided 1.5 crore additional doses of vaccines, which will enable the state government to complete within three weeks the vaccination of beneficiaries above 45 years of age in six districts, including Mumbai.

State Health Minister Rajesh Tope had also said on Wednesday said the state has 14 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccine which would last only three days, and many inoculation centres were being closed due to the shortage of the vaccine. Talking to reporters, Tope said people coming to such centres for taking jabs were being sent back as there was no supply of vaccine doses.

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