Vax drive for 18-44 in Maharashtra may be frozen till June 1 on expert advice

MUMBAI: In view of the massive shortage of vaccines in Maharashtra, the state task force has advised the MVA government to suspend the drive for 18-44 years till June 1, by which time more doses are expected to be available, TOI has learned.

By Tuesday evening, many districts had gone ahead and suspended vaccination for the 18-44 age-group altogether, although Mumbai has not taken such a call. BMC officials said they haven’t decided to suspend the drive yet, but a decision may come in a day or two if vaccine shortage becomes more acute.
The Maharashtra government had earlier in the day decided to divert nearly 2.75 lakh Covaxin doses that were purchased for the 18-44 group to complete the second doses for the older group.
This move will “slow down” the vaccination drive for the 18-44 age-group, said public health minister Rajesh Tope on Tuesday. On Tuesday, 26,015 people from all age groups could take the vaccine, a drop from 31,043 vaccinations on Monday.
Faced with a lot of criticism about people above 45 struggling to book appointments online, civic authorities are likely to come out with revised guidelines on Wednesday. Citizens have been complaining that the slot announcements are only made on Twitter, which many over 45 are not acquainted with. Glitches with receiving OTPs and security codes are also not allowing people to register. On Tuesday, the booking slots were not open till 11pm for the next day’s vaccination that is likely to start at most centres post-noon.
AMC Suresh Kakani said the BMC may consider walk-ins for some percentage of people over 45 years. “We will be issuing some fresh guidelines,” he said, adding that online registrations will remain the pre-dominant mode. “Earlier, we were vaccinating 1.5 times our capacity. We have been able to bring that down to a normal rate and reduce overcrowding with online registrations,” he said. The slots are now opened according to vaccine availability.
Aaditya Thackeray, guardian minister for Mumbai suburban, said on Twitter that he met BMC commissioner I S Chahal and Kakani to discuss a strategy for “ensuring second shot is administered in time; and communication & slots for those not tech savvy or on social media”.
The state, meanwhile, said that with a large number of people due for their second dose, they may prioritize people requiring the second dose, in which case the wait for the first shot may get longer for the 45+ category. “The Covaxin stocks that were purchased by the state government for the 18-44 age-group will now to given to the people from the 45+ age-group who are due for the second dose. The vaccination for the younger group will have to be slowed down for a few days till supply stabilizes,” said Tope.
There are over 5 lakh beneficiaries from the 45+ category who are due for their second dose of Covaxin, and the state only has 35,000 Covaxin doses. Another 16 lakh people who took the first dose of Covishield are due for their second dose.
Palghar district has halted vaccination for those in the 18-44 age-group. In a late evening order, district collector Dr Manik Gursal said doses received for the 18-44 category will be used to administer second doses for the 45+ category.
Tope spoke to Union health minister Dr Harsh Varshan on Monday night, seeking enhanced vaccine supply for Maharashtra. “Vaccine supply is a challenge even for the Centre. We have approached both the vaccine manufacturers in the country and have also written to the Russian Direct Investment Fund to seek supply of Sputnik vaccine, but no manufacturer has shown the ability to match our requirement,” Tope said. So far, a total of 1.84 crore beneficiaries in the state have received at least one dose of vaccine.
State officials said that the government will be pursuing with the Centre regarding allowing a state-level app for the vaccination drive. “A demand for a state-level application was raised by CM Uddhav Thackeray in a meeting with PM. This app will be useful as the state wants to plan out its own vaccine strategy and add age-related filters for sequential vaccination for the 18-44 age-group,” an official said.