THE STATE has administered the highest number of Covid-19 vaccine doses in the country, said Maharashtra Health Secretary Pradeep Vyas (Representational) THE STATE has administered the highest number of Covid-19 vaccine doses in the country, said Maharashtra Health Secretary Pradeep Vyas. From January 16 to March 18, a total of 38.40 lakh beneficiaries have been vaccinated, which is the highest so far in India.
Rajasthan comes a close second with 37.38 lakh beneficiaries, followed by Uttar Pradesh at 36.68 lakh. West Bengal has administered the vaccine to 31.49 lakh beneficiaries while Gujarat is at 30.50 lakh vaccinations.
India also crossed a milestone as it recorded more than four crore Covid-19 vaccinations. According to a report by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 4.11 crore vaccine doses were administered till 7 pm on Friday.
Recently, at a virtual meeting of chief ministers with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, health ministry officials said the pace of vaccinations in Maharashtra “was satisfactory as compared with other major states, but more needs to be done”.
State Health Minister Rajesh Tope also issued a statement later stating that plans were underway to ramp up vaccinations to three lakh daily and asked the Centre to provide 2.2 crore doses.
Vyas said a majority of beneficiaries were senior citizens aged above 60. Out of 38.40 lakh vaccinations in Maharashtra, 15.48 lakh are senior citizens aged above 60, who have got the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, while 3.10 lakh are in the age group of 45 to 59 years.
A total of 8.78 lakh healthcare workers have got the first dose, out of which 3.98 lakh have got the second dose. A total of 5.85 lakh frontline workers got the first dose, out of which 1.20 lakh have got the second dose.
On Thursday, two lakh beneficiaries were vaccinated across the state, out of which 1.39 lakh got Covishield and 60,989 got Covaxin. Mumbai suburban recorded 30,026 vaccinations while Pune registered 22,996.
Till March 18, a total of 7.6 lakh persons have been inoculated in Mumbai, while 4.2 lakh persons have got the jab in Pune. Thane has inoculated more than three lakh beneficiaries.