Serum unable to supply Covishield doses to Maharashtra till May 26: Rajesh Tope

Serum Institute of India chief Adar Poonawalla has told the Maharashtra government that they are unable to supply the doses of Covishield vaccine till May 26.

“Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had a telephonic chat with the Serum chief in London on the issue and was informed that they could not give the doses till May 26,” State Health Minister Rajesh Tope said at a media conference on Friday.

“Covid vaccination is our top-most priority and no stone is being left unturned to purchase vaccines directly from the manufacturers,” he added.

Maharashtra has shown readiness to purchase a maximum number of doses, Tope said. “We have the capability of conducting the vaccination drive across 5,000-7,000 centres and administering at least 8-10 lakh doses daily.”

Till May 6, the state has vaccinated 1.73 lakh beneficiaries.

Tope also flagged the need for an urgent supply of doses of Covaxin for beneficiaries waiting for their second jabs.

“We have urged the Centre time and again to release the doses of Covaxin as four to five lakh beneficiaries are waiting across the state for their second jabs,” Tope said.

“The state has written several letters to the Centre, seeking the Covaxin doses. If the supply does not come on time, we have no other option but to divert the doses, purchased by the state for the 18-44 age-group people, to those who need the second shot of Covaxin,” Tope added.

The vaccination programme for the 18-44 age-group people began on May 1 and so far, 2.15 lakh beneficiaries have been vaccinated.

For this, the state had purchased 3 lakh Covishield doses, 4.79 lakh Covaxin doses and another 3.5 lakh doses of Covishield are awaited.

“Overall, we had made an arrangement for the availability of 7.79 lakh doses for this age group. The pace of vaccination is slow as there are limited doses but we are sparing no efforts to ensure adequate availability,” the health minister added.