. “Thackeray requested the PM for more supply of oxygen for Maharashtra,” the statement added. (File) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday applauded the efforts made by Maharashtra in fighting the second wave of Covid-19 while speaking to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, a statement from the CM’s office (CMO) said.
Thackeray, meanwhile, also wrote to the PM requesting that states be allowed to set up their own online platforms for the vaccination drive and procure vaccines from manufacturers across the world.
According to the CMO statement, as the PM called, Thackeray apprised him about the various measures taken by the state and how the government is planning to counter the upcoming third wave of Covid-19. “Thackeray requested the PM for more supply of oxygen for Maharashtra,” the statement added.
It said that while thanking the PM for accepting some suggestions given by Maharashtra, Thackeray said: “The PM and the Union government have been guiding Maharashtra in the Covid battle from the very beginning and that has been useful to the state government.”
Meanwhile, in his letter to the PM on Friday, Thackeray requested that either states be allowed to develop online platforms for vaccine registration and share the data with the Centre, or the Union government should develop and assign separate CoWin apps for each state.
Referring to CoWin crashing on the day the vaccination programme was thrown open to the 18 to 44 age group, Thackeray said that with a sudden surge in the number of people wanting to register nationally, there is a fear about the app malfunctioning or crashing.
Citing unavailability of vaccines even as Maharashtra is willing to purchase jabs, Thackeray wrote, “If states are allowed to procure from other manufacturers as well, we would be able to cover a larger population in a shorter time and help reduce the impact of the possible third wave of Covid-19.”
“The ICMR may set the medical framework for each state FDA, within which we may procure the various vaccines available in the world,” he added.
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