Vax for 18-44 to start today in limited way

MUMBAI: The vaccination drive for the 18-44 age group will begin in the state in a limited way from today, depending on the availability of the stock, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray announced on Friday, in his live address from social media platforms. He said Maharashtra was capable of fulfilling the responsibility put by the Centre on it to inoculate all adults. He also said that the state is prepared to buy the entire stock of 120 million doses at one go and requested the Centre to help Maharashtra get maximum stock.

“Maharashtra is starting its drive for the 18-44 age group from Saturday onwards, but it will be based on the availability of the stock as the production is limited. We have been told that the state will receive 18 lakh (1.8 million) doses in May, but have not got a specific date on which the stock will be delivered. We have received 300,000 doses which has been distributed based on the number of patients and population,” the CM said.

Expanding the nationwide drive, the Centre threw open vaccination for all adults from May 1, asking the states to inoculate the 18-44 age group by procuring doses from the open market. To be sure, the Centre on Friday clarified the third phase of vaccination of 18-44 age group can only be executed using vaccines bought by the states and private hospitals directly from manufacturers. The Centre is providing the stock for vaccination of those above 45 and priority groups,

which the states don’t have to pay for. While SII, the manufacturer of Covishield, has priced its vaccines at ₹300 for states, Bharat Biotech, the maker of Covaxin, has priced the vaccine at ₹400 for states.

According to the state government figures, about 60 million of its population falls under the age group of 18-44 and will require 120 million doses to get them immunised from the virus.