On Monday, March 22, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that the state government has requested to vaccinate 20 lakh doses per day as the state is witnessing a surge in COVID-19 cases.
He also stated that every day, three lakh vaccinations are happening and the government is trying to increase it by roping in private hospitals and setting up sub-centres in rural areas to make it convenient for the people.
There are 1.77 crore people who are eligible for the vaccine in the current phase and the state will need 2.20 crore doses for them, Tope said, adding that the government was striving to complete this phase in three months.
"We have requested for 20 lakh vaccines per day. We were informed that we'll receive 9 lakh Covishield vaccines tomorrow. We aim to vaccinate vulnerable groups within three months. The pace needed to complete target will require requested amount of vaccines," Tope added.
He also said that the Centre has told the states that the gap between two shots of Covishield vaccine will be 45 to 60 days instead of the present 28 days. The gap between doses of Covaxin will be same as earlier, that is 28 days.
Tope also dropped hints at the possibility of a lockdown in the state, amid a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases. He said that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was worried about the situation in the state. "CM has requested people to behave responsibly to avoid COVID, otherwise, the government will have to resort to imposing a lockdown. People must adhere to the guidelines," the minister said.
"According to their estimate, the graph of COVID-19 cases will remain the same for the next two to three days and after that, it will decline. I think this is a peak and I hope it will go down," said Tope.
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