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Maharashtra’s Vaccine Wastage Rate at 5.2%: State Health Officials


Maharashtra’s Vaccine Wastage Rate at 5.2%: State Health Officials
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A new report says that approximately 40,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have gone to waste in Maharashtra since statewide vaccinations began on January 16. Despite this figure, State Health officials have said that the vaccine wastage rate was currently at 5.2% which is significantly lower than the Centre’s estimation of 10%. 

It is further said that vaccine wastage was higher during the initial days of the inoculations. This was attributed to poor turnout among eligible candidates for the vaccine, particularly in rural regions of the state. Wastage was down the following days and weeks as more people started turning up for their shots. 

As per sources within vaccination centres, wastage was higher for Covaxin, a vaccine produced by Bharat Biotech. It is further said that participation for this particular vaccine was low when compared to Covishield which is produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII). 

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As of Thursday, the state vaccinated more than 8.3 lakh healthcare and frontline workers. State Immunisation Officer, Dr Dilip Patil said that vaccine wastage is an expected outcome of every vaccination drive. “Open vials have to be discarded within six hours. However, centres are coordinating well to use every last dose,” he said. 

Data further shows that more people are now willing to get the vaccine than they were in mid-January. Maharashtra saw a record rise of people turning out to get the vaccine on Feb 18. Around 48,006 frontline and healthcare staff reportedly took the vaccine with 21,748 of them being healthcare workers and 26,258 frontline staff. This is the highest turnout for vaccinations in the state since the drive began on Jan 16.

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As per Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani, the CoWin app was functioning normally and people are now more comfortable with the idea of receiving the vaccine. Mumbai finished vaccinating around 1.5 lakh of its 4 lakh registered participants. 

Around 1,000 in Mumbai could receive their second dose of the vaccine soon while private hospitals like Saifee and Breach Candy began vaccinating their staffers on Thursday. 

Picking up the pace of vaccinations is one of the primary goals for officials across the country. Authorities will welcome the increase in vaccination numbers, though the hesitance among a section of the population is understandably causing some headaches.

Also readSenior Citizens To Get Vaccine From March 15

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