Maharashtra: May 1 vaccination drive not doable?
MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government has decided to vaccinate its people in the next six months. The cost of vaccination will be Rs 6,500 crore, said state health minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday.
He, however, said the drive beginning May 1 may not be launched that day in Maharashtra due to unavailability of a sufficient vaccine doses, though the state is committed to vaccinating people in the age group of 18 to 45 years.
“There are 5.71 crore people in the 18-45 age group in the state. They will be vaccinated free of cost, leading to an additional financial obligation of Rs 6,500 crore on the state exchequer,” said Tope.
“We need 12 crore doses to vaccinate the remaining people in the state,” he said, adding the Serum Institute of India has verbally agreed to provide one crore doses per month to the state while Bharat Biotech will provide 10 lakh doses now and 20 lakh doses in July and August. Bharat Biotech is unable to supply more vaccines, he said.
“We want a robust supply chain for the vaccine so that we can vaccinate 13 lakh people per day across Maharashtra through 13,000 institutions,” said Tope.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has been in talks with Russian manufacturers and others on the supply of Sputnik-V vaccine as well as with Johnson and Johnson and Zydus Cadila.
“Vaccination is the ultimate solution for Covid to avoid lockdowns,” Tope said. In the state cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the Chief Minister decided in favour of free vaccination.
Tope said people in the 18-45 age group should register on the CoWin app and only those who are called for inoculation should come to the vaccination centre.
Maharashtra has vaccinated over 1.50 crore people, including health workers and senior citizens. The state’s population is around 12 crore.
Meanwhile, state cabinet also discussed an extension of lockdown as the number of positive cases has not yet come down significantly.
“The lockdown will be extended up to May 15. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will talk to the state health task force before officially declaring the lockdown restrictions, said a senior minister.