Need 3 crore doses every month to speed up vaccination drive in state: Tope

In Maharashtra till now, a total of 1.72 crore in the age group of 45 and above have got the first dose of the vaccine while more than 61 lakh have got both jabs.

Six months after the vaccination drive against Covid-19 was rolled out, the coverage has crossed 39 crore, with Uttar Pradesh administering a total of 3.88 crore vaccine doses, followed by Maharashtra at 3.79 crore doses.

“We have the capacity to administer more than 10 lakh vaccine doses daily if we get adequate stock of at least 3 crore vaccine doses every month,” state Health Minister Rajesh Tope told a media conference on Thursday.

“We are getting doses in a staggered manner and today, we have got supply of 9.5 lakh vaccine doses. On an average, at least 3.5 to 4 lakh vaccine doses are administered daily when the state has a capacity to administer more than 10 lakh jabs… to take on such a mammoth task, we need at least 3 crore vaccine doses every month,” he said.

The minister said Maharashtra wants to expedite the vaccination process to blunt the impact of any future wave of infections.

“Daily, around 8,000-8,500 Covid-19 cases are being reported and while there has been a plateauing in the numbers, it is still not satisfactory,” Tope said, adding that this was the reason for imposing Level 3 restrictions across several districts.

In Maharashtra till now, a total of 1.72 crore in the age group of 45 and above have got the first dose of the vaccine while more than 61 lakh have got both jabs.

In the 18-44 age group, a total of 89.47 lakh beneficiaries have been administered the first dose while 3.82 lakh have got both doses. Pune district has administered more than 53 lakh vaccine doses while Mumbai tops the list at more than 64 lakh vaccine doses.

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