AMID SHORTAGE, MAHA PLANS TO FIRST VACCINATE 35-44 YEAR OLDS

Amid limited stock for the third phase of vaccination for the 18-44 age group and to control crowding at inoculation centres, Maharashtra plans to first give the shot to those in the 35-44 age group, with preference to people with comorbidities, the government indicated on Friday.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray is expected to take a decision on it, state health minister Rajesh Tope said, adding the inoculation of those in the 18-34 age group would start once the doses are available in adequate quantity.

Currently, the state is inoculating citizens in the 18-44 age group only at five centres in a district, as the number of doses is limited.

The state started the drive with 300,000 Covishield doses and later purchased 479,000 Covaxin doses. So far, 215,284 citizens in the 18-44 category have been inoculated since May 1.