More COVID-19 vaccine vials required than those received: Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope

Days before the vaccination drive is set to begin, the Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope has made a serious allegation against the Central government stating that the state has not received sufficient doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Tope also informed that the number of vaccination centres have been reduced following the instructions given by the Center.

Speaking to a news channel about the dose of coronavirus vaccine, Rajesh Tope said that Maharashtra needs a total of 17 lakh doses including buffer stock. Despite this, the Central Government has provided 9.63 lakh doses only for the first phase. This means that only 55 per cent of the required dose has been given to the state. The full dose will be given to each person as per the instructions of the Central Government. As a result, given the current availability of the corona vaccine, the state can vaccinate up to 5 lakh people of the eight lakh people needed to be vaccinated.

“The state government had planned 511 coronavirus vaccine centres. But after the Centre's suggestion, this number has been reduced to 350. We will try to vaccinate 35,000 people on the first day,” explained Rajesh Tope.

The vaccine provided by the central government will reach all the divisional offices by January 13 or 14. On January 16, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the nationwide vaccination through video conferencing. After that, vaccination will also start in Maharashtra. At the time of the address, Cooper Hospital in Mumbai and District Hospital in Jalna will be connected to the Prime Minister. 

The priority group for vaccination includes health care workers, all employees of government and private health institutions, Anganwadi workers and others. Health workers are classified into nine groups for vaccination.

Front line workers include state and central police forces, armed action forces, home guards, municipal workers, etc. The second group includes all persons above 50 years of age and persons below 50 years of age with other ailments.

In the first phase, as per the Centre's protocols, the 'Covishield' vaccine will not be administered to people under 18 years of age, pregnant women and those with allergies.

There are cold storages available in the state -- one at the state level, nine at the divisional level, 34 at the district level and 27 at the municipal level. There are a total of 3,135 cold storage centers available which has walk-in Cooler-21, walk-in Freezer-4, I.L.R. 4153, Deep Freezer – 3937.