Amidst the spiralling coronavirus outbreak in Maharashtra, the state health minister Rajesh Tope today claimed that the state is facing acute shortages of the coronavirus vaccine, adding that the state now has just 14 lakh doses which would last for only three days. The Maharashtra minister has asked the Centre to provide Maharashtra with an additional 40 lakh more doses of COVID-19 vaccines per week to fight the contagion.
“We do not have enough vaccine doses at various vaccination centres, and people have to be sent back due to a shortage of doses. We have demanded from the Centre that people of age group 20-40 years must be vaccinated on priority,” Rajesh Tope told media.
We are working on war footing to increase the number of beds in Pune, Mumbai, Nashik and other parts of the State: Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope
— ANI (@ANI) April 7, 2021
“Currently, we have 14 lakh vaccine doses which will get over in 3 days. We’ve asked for 40 lakh more vaccine doses per week. I’m not saying that the Centre is not giving us vaccines but the speed of delivery of vaccines is slow,” he said.
The Maharashtra health minister said that people in the age group of 20-40 are most infected because they go out every day. Suggesting that COVID-19 vaccines should be made eligible for all aged 18 and above, Tope said this is how the spread of the infection can be controlled.
Speaking on the consumption of oxygen of Covid-19 patients in the state, Rajesh Tope said Maharashtra is consuming 700 mg/L (milligrams per liter) of oxygen each day while producing 1200 mg/L (milligrams per liter) on a daily basis.
Tope said he has asked the Centre to direct the neighbouring states to provide oxygen supply to Maharashtra.
When asked about the Maharashtra government’s strategy in tackling the resurgent coronavirus outbreak, Tope said the number of hospital beds for Covid-19 patients is being increased in Pune, Mumbai, Nagpur and Nasik.
Shiv Sena MP writes letter to Dr Harsh Vardhan, asking for more doses of COVID-19 vaccines for Maharashtra
Shiv Sena’s Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi has also written a letter to the Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, asking him to make the vaccine available to all above 18 years and also to provide adequate vaccines to Maharashtra as it faces an acute shortage.
In my letter to Hon. Health Min, I have requested him to make vaccine accessible to all above 18 years &Maharashtra be provided adequate vaccines as it faces acute shortage. This is the NEED of the HOUR not a mere WANT. pic.twitter.com/EGlRaVOYL7
— Priyanka Chaturvedi (@priyankac19) April 7, 2021
In her letter, Ms Chaturvedi has stated that Maharashtra is on the verge of running out on the vaccine doses, adding that some districts have stocks that would last only for 48 hours. The Shiv Sena MP urged the central government to release more vaccines to Maharashtra to combat the coronavirus effectively.
