State aims to inoculate 20mn people in Sept

MUMBAI: After administering a record-breaking 1,225,541 doses on Saturday, Maharashtra has set a target to inoculate over 20 million people in September, which comes to approximately 700,000 doses per day from the average of 482,695 doses administered in a day in August.

Currently, Maharashtra ranks first in terms of fully-vaccinated population in the country with 17,261,027 citizens receiving both the doses. So far, the state has administered 62,940,932 doses.

Dr Pradeep Vyas, additional chief secretary, state public health department, said there would be boost in the vaccination drive. “We expect to give more than 20 million doses in September. We have been assured of the supply from the Central government, and if there is more production, the numbers may go up further. Private hospitals have also contributed significantly to vaccination drive,” said Dr Vyas.

In August, 14,483,870 doses were administered in the state, and 12,143,140 doses in July.

The state’s private hospitals have played an important role in vaccination as they have administered 9,397,393 doses, of which 3,903,807 were in Mumbai followed 2,469,350 doses in Pune.

Currently, 45% of the total population of the state has taken at least one dose of vaccine. Mumbai tops the chart with 80% of its population taking at least one dose of vaccine. Around 35.7% population in the 18-44 age group has been vaccinated while the percentage for the 45-plus age group is 54.16%.

The state government is aiming to ramp up vaccination as it could prove an important tool to contain the third wave and tide over shortage of oxygen, if it turns as severe as projected.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray described vaccine as a shield against Covid-19 virus. “We need to stop the third wave or at least postpone it. Citizens should fully support the vaccination drive. Doctors need to educate citizens that they should take both doses. There can be cases where people have taken both doses and can still get Covid-19. However, the severity of the virus will be less,” he added. Maharashtra on Sunday recorded 4,057 new Covid-19 cases and 67 deaths. Mumbai reported 495 new cases and two deaths, pushing toll to 15,993. The total number of Covid cases across the state is 6,486,174.

On Sunday, 193,193 Covid tests were done and the number of recoveries clocked 5,916. The total number of active patients in Maharashtra stood at 50,095.

There are 50,095 active cases in the state, of which Pune tops with 12,325 patients followed by Thane with 7,273 and Satara with 6,603 active patients. Death toll is 137,774 with Pune leading with 19,303 deaths, followed by Mumbai (15,993) and Thane (11,324).