Maharashtra on Monday vaccinated 2.64 lakh people - the most in a single day since the state began immunisation against Covid-19 on January 16 ( file ) Maharashtra on Monday vaccinated 2.64 lakh people – the most in a single day since the state began immunisation against Covid-19 on January 16.
While Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Thane and Nashik continue to account for over 50 per cent of state’s daily immunisation on Monday, districts like Gadchiroli, Hingoli, Osmanabad and Kolhapur reported less than 2,000 vaccinations – the lowest turnout in the state. The state also crossed the 30-lakh mark in vaccinations on Monday, with 31.33 lakh vaccines being administered since January 16. Of them, 3.61 lakh people have received their second dose and 27.7 lakh their first dose. Among those who have received their first dose are 11.1 lakh senior citizens and 2 lakh people above 45 years of age with comorbidities.
Nagpur has seen a rise in people turning up for vaccination with 20,283 people immunised on Monday — double of what the city reported until last week. The increase is attributed to a spike in daily cases and increasing fear of infection among the general population.
The city, now under a lockdown, has breached 2,000-mark in daily new cases, surpassing Mumbai and Pune as Maharashtra witnesses a second surge in the pandemic. Maharashtra recorded 17,864 new cases on Tuesday.
Mumbai, with 44,683 shots, accounted for the highest number of vaccinations in the state. Pune followed with 26,560, Thane 20,245 and Nashik 15,990. The total number of centres across the state have increased from 690 on March 1 to 2,718 on March 15.
Covishield continues to account for bulk of the vaccination with 15 lakh doses left in stock. On Monday, 2.43 lakh Covishield doses were used. While eight lakh doses of Covaxin are left, 21,085 doses were used on Monday.
State officials said that with preliminary data of Covaxin Phase III trial showing 81 per cent vaccine efficacy, they plan to increase the number of centres that will administer Covaxin.
Dr Archana Patil, Director (Family Welfare) of Directorate of Health Services, said vaccine stocks are being distributed among districts to last 10 days. “We calculate the requirement based on daily vaccinations in each district. There is no shortage right now but demand for vaccine is rising every day,” she added.