Maharashtra / ‘Consider reducing gap between two Covishield vaccine shots’: Maharashtra tells Centre

Mumbai: With the target to inoculate 100% of its targeted population of 91.44 million by November 30 against Covid-19, the Maharashtra government has urged the Centre to reduce the gap between two doses. The state government has stated that it will help them speed up the inoculation, officials said.

State public health minister Rajesh Tope, during his virtual meeting with union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday, said that the ministry should consider reducing the gap between the two shots of the Covishield vaccine. Tope also apprised the minister about the ongoing programme in the state to boost the inoculation drive. Health ministers from other states and union territories too participated in the meeting.

Tope said that the state government is working to administer at least one dose to all the 91.44 million eligible population by November 30. Till 8 pm on November 11, Maharashtra administered 101,201,096 doses, of which at least one dose was given to 68,512,744 beneficiaries, while 3,26,88,352 people are fully vaccinated.

A statement from the state government quoted Tope, “The speed of vaccination can be accelerated by reducing the gap between the two doses of Covishield vaccine. The union ministry must consider this suggestion.” He added that the state has initiated programmes such as Mission Kavach Kundal, Mission Yuva Swastha to push the vaccination.

“Public awareness is being created to allay the doubts of the citizens about vaccination. Efforts are being made for this through the help of opinion leaders and religious leaders,” he said.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra on Thursday added 997 fresh Covid-19 cases, pushing the tally to 6,621,420. For nearly a week, the state has been clocking under 1000 cases daily (with an exception of November 10). Maharashtra added 28 fatalities, pushing its Covid-19 death toll to 140,475.

The state’s active case count dipped to 12,352 on Thursday. Pune, Mumbai, Thane, Ahmednagar and Raigad are the top five districts with the most active cases. These five districts contribute to 80.15% of the state’s total active cases with 9,901 cases.

A day after surpassing 300 cases on Wednesday, Mumbai added 276 fresh Covid infections, taking its tally to 759,562. Mumbai added two deaths due to Covid-19.

Besides Mumbai, a chunk of the fresh cases came from Pune district (205), Ahmednagar (106), Thane (103), Raigad (74), and Nashik (50).

The state’s active case count dipped to 12,352 on Thursday. Pune, Mumbai, Thane, Ahmednagar and Raigad are the top five districts with the most active cases.

The daily positivity rate continued to remain under 1% for the second day straight at 0.92%. In the last 24 hours, the state tested 108,086 samples. The overall positivity rate was 10.41%.

According to the state health department data on November 9, 11 districts, including Pune, Sindhudurg, Amravati, Palghar, Parbhani, Ahmednagar, Solapur, Nashik, Satara, Jalna and Akola, have a higher weekly positivity rate than the state’s average of 1.35%.