In keeping with the Centre’s target to administer 100-crore COVID-19 vaccine doses till Dasara on October 15, the Maharashtra government will be holding a mega-vaccination drive from October 8 to 14 with the aim of providing jabs for 15 lakh people daily during this period, State Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on October 7.
Unveiling the drive ‘Mission Kavach Kundal’, he said that thus far, 65% of the State’s eligible vaccine population (a little over 9 crore) had received the first dose while 30% had taken both doses.
“We plan to vaccinate 15 lakh persons every day in this drive. We have a sufficient vaccine stock of one crore doses to achieve this… while speaking to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, the Minister said that it was his expectation that Maharashtra must play a major role in achieving the 100 crore-vaccination target,” Mr. Tope said.
The Health Minister said that of the roughly 9.15 crore people eligible to be vaccinated in the State, 6 crore had been given the first dose while 2.5 crore persons had taken both doses.
“As a result, Maharashtra today has opened up almost every establishment including religious places. Given the scale of our vaccination, even if someone does get infected in the future, the severity will be less, and there will not be a panic demand for ICU beds or oxygen requirement. The fatalities, too, will be controlled as a result,” Mr. Tope said, remarking that there were still some sections of society which demanded the involvement of community and religious leaders in order to expedite the pace of vaccination.
Commenting on ‘Mission Kavach Kundal’, the Health Minister further said that he had a meeting with all District Collectors and Divisional Commissioners and stressed on the pressing need to work at an enhanced pace to complete as many vaccinations as possible.
“We need to get into a ‘mission mode’ from tomorrow. There is a need on part of the local administration to mobilise the people and get them to vaccination centres. The watchword henceforth must be ‘information, education, communication,” said Mr. Tope, pointing out that the Pune and the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporations had successfully undertaken a non-stop 75- hour vaccination drive recently.
Maharashtra currently has 33,000 active cases, with the State reporting average daily surges of 2,500-3,000 new cases. While the recoveries have generally been outpacing new cases, the decline in cases has nonetheless proceeded in an incremental fashion rather than big dips on a daily basis.
