The Centre has asked the Maharashtra government to buy vaccines to meet any supply shortages, as many people are queuing up for the booster dose amid a steep rise in cases. Official sources said since vaccines are available in the market, states were free to procure them according to their requirement.
Maharashtra is among the states with the highest number of daily Covid cases. India registered 7,830 new Covid-19 cases, highest in over seven months, and 16 deaths, according to the health ministry data released on Wednesday.
Health ministry sources also said the current rise in cases may continue for another 10-12 days before the trend starts subsiding, but there was no cause for worry since severity and hospitalisations were low. Even with the current surge, the Centre does not have any plans to make masks mandatory yet. “We may be in the endemic stage... We do not want to create any panic among people. We are asking those who have comorbidities to get their booster dose,” a senior government official said.
Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry and Haryana are some of the states to have brought back fresh Covid-19 protocol, especially the mask mandate.
A health ministry official also said there was no need for a fourth dose of Covid vaccine, and the third dose, too, is to be taken by those who are senior citizens or have certain comorbidities which make them more vulnerable.
Only 441 Covid vaccine doses were administered in the country on Tuesday, health ministry data showed. The increase in the number of cases, the health ministry official said, is also due to an increase in the number of tests. On Tuesday for instance, 214,242 tests were conducted in the country.
