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COVID-19 vaccination: Uddhav Thackeray asks PM Modi to reduce eligible age to 25 yrs

Saying that the second wave of the coronavirus is much stronger than the first wave in the state, Thackeray said Maharashtra is taking up vaccination at a rapid pace.

Thackeray urged PM Modi to reduce the age for getting COVID-19 vaccination to 25 years.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking to reduce the age for getting COVID-19 vaccination to 25 years.

Saying that the second wave of the coronavirus is much stronger than the first wave in the state, Thackeray said Maharashtra is taking up vaccination at a rapid pace and is the number 1 state in the country in terms of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered.

"I further request you to lower it (age) to 25, as the states facing the surge are having to place curbs to safeguard the lives of the population. However, if a larger number of our young and working population is vaccinated, the intensity of the cases would be much lower than the treatment that they need today," the Chief Minister said.

India has seen a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in the last few weeks. Maharashtra is one of the worst affected states. Of the 1,03,558 cases reported in the country in the preceding 24 hours on Monday morning, Maharashtra contributed 57,074 cases, which is 55.11 per cent of the total cases.

On Sunday, the state imposed a fresh set of curbs comprising a weekend lockdown and a night curfew on weekdays to stem the surge in coronavirus cases.

Thackeray also sought additional vaccine doses, saying the entire population above 45 years of age in the six worst affected districts in the state -- Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Nashik, Nagpur and Aurangabad -- can be covered in three weeks if 1.5 crore vaccine doses are made available.

As per reports, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has also written a letter to the Prime Minister seeking to allow vaccination for all age groups and to expand the number of vaccination centres by relaxing the criteria for such centres and allowing schools and community centres to also be used as vaccination sites.

Kejriwal said the entire population of Delhi can be vaccinated in 3 months if the Centre allows vaccination for all and opening of new vaccination centres.

Earlier today, the Delhi government also decided to keep vaccination site at all Delhi government hospitals functional for 24 hours everyday to increase the pace of vaccination.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain took to Twitter to inform about the decision.