Free COVID-19 vaccine for all above 18 in Maharashtra from May 1
The Maharashtra government has announced that free Covid-19 vaccine will be provided to all above 18 in the state. The decision was taken during a Cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray video video-conferencing on Wednesday.
According to the state's Public Health Department, Maharashtra has 5.71 crore people in the age group of 18 to 44 and will require 12 crore vaccine doses. The Centre has announced that people above 18 years of age will be eligible to get coronavirus vaccine from May 1. The registrations will begin from Wednesday evening.
Ahead of the meeting, deputy CM Ajit Pawar said that the it is the responsibility of the Centre to vaccinate all people, adding that the state is following it up with Delhi.
Meanwhile, the government is also likely to take a call on extension of lockdown in the state today.
India is struggling with a second wave of the pandemic with more than 3,00,000 daily new coronavirus cases being reported in the past few days. Maharashtra is one of the worst-hit states in the country. The state reported 66,358 fresh coronavirus positive cases and 895 fatalities on Tuesday, taking the tally of infections to 44,10,085 and the toll to 66,179. The state is now left with 6,72,434 active cases. Mumbai recorded 3,999 new cases and 59 deaths, raising the overall tally to 6,35,483 and the toll to 12,920. A total of 67,752 patients were discharged from hospitals in Maharashtra during the day, taking the number of recoveries to 36,69,548.
