30 million in state received first dose
Fully-vaccinated citizens reach 8.8mn; CM Thackeray insists on thorough planning for third wave
MUMBAI: Even as Maharashtra became the first state in India to administer the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine to over 30 million citizens on Friday, chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray has asked officials to thoroughly prepare for a possible third wave.
On Friday, 616,476 people were vaccinated in the state, taking the total number of beneficiaries who received the first dose to 30,047,487. The number of people who are fully vaccinated stands at 8,837,859.
“We are also leading in terms of fully vaccinated people. If the Centre gives us more doses, we will soon reach the milestone of crossing the 10 million fully-vaccinated mark,” said state health minister Rajesh Tope.
In the meeting, Thackeray directed commissioners and collectors of various districts to ensure that economic activities do not suffer during the third wave. “The authorities need to plan and ensure that economic activities do not face any hurdles during the third wave. They must take steps to see that the third wave does not take place and even if it does, then steps should be taken to ensure that economic cycle is not disrupted and livelihoods of the citizens are protected,” said Thackeray.
CM instructed the officials to prevent crowding of people, ramping up of testing facilities and also coming down on people gathering at tourist spots. He also cautioned that the second wave in still not over and this period should be utilised to take steps to prevent the third wave. He said that though the new Covid-19 cases have reduced across the state, some districts continue to record surge in the infections.
In the backdrop of the shortage of vaccines, the Delta Plus mutant and the impending third wave, Thackeray said officials should take steps like declaring areas with high cases as containment zones, isolating patients and insisting on Covid-appropriate behaviour.
According to Dr Wiqar Shaikh, professor of medicine, Grant Medical College and Sir JJ Hospital, the third wave is inevitable. “The history of any pandemic – measles, plague, influenza and cholera – show that they witnessed multiple waves and abated with the passage of time. The focus now should be micro containment where if higher number of cases is found in a locality, then it should be strictly locked up and patients must be treated,” said Dr Shaikh.
Meanwhile on Friday, Mumbai reported 443 new cases and 11 deaths.
The total number of Covid-19 cases in the state has now reached 6,197,018, of which Mumbai’s share is 730,234. The total fatalities in the state have reached 126,727, with Pune recording most deaths at 17,609, followed by Mumbai (15,678) and Thane (10,627).
On Friday, 215,406 were conducted in the state and 13,452 recoveries were clocked.
The active patients in Maharashtra currently stand at 101,337, of which Pune tops with 17,097 cases, followed by Thane (15,826) and Mumbai (10,913).