Owing to the Remdesivir shortage in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had drawn the attention of the Center and had also requested the Prime Minister in a letter. Today, the Center has ordered to supply 4 lakh 35 thousand vials to the state till April 30. The Chief Minister has thanked the Prime Minister for the decision. The supply was earlier 2 lakh 69 thousand vials, now it has been increased to 4 lakh 35 thousand.
A letter in this regard has been received today from Navdeep Rinwa, Joint Secretary, Department of Medicine, Union Health Department. It said the supply would be from April 21 to April 31. As per the demand of the states across the country, the center will supply 16 lakh remedial vials and seven licensed manufacturing companies have been asked to supply them as a priority.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday announced that the state government will float a global tender for the COVID-19 vaccine and remdesivir injections. Pawar was speaking to reporters after holding a meeting with senior officials to review the COVID-19 situation in Pune.
The Union government has allowed vaccination for people in the age group of 18 to 45 and the state will commence immunisation for them from May 1, he said.
"We have decided to float a global tender for COVID-19 vaccines and remdesivir under a committee, which will be headed by chief secretary Sitaram Kunte," the deputy chief minister said.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackrey has discussed the details of the vaccine with CEO of Serum Institute of India (SII) Adar Poonawala, he said.
"We will also ensure that the state receives vaccines from foreign manufacturers with the coordination and support from the Union government," he said.
The state on Saturday reported 67,160 new coronavirus cases, slightly more than Friday, while the death figure declined to 676, a health department official said.
The death toll reached 63,928 and the caseload rose to 42,28,836. The state on Friday had reported 66,836 cases and 773 fatalities.
Out of 676 fatalities, 396 occurred in the last 48 hours and the remaining had occurred last week or before that. 63,818 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, raising the number of recovered cases to 34,68,610.
