Maharashtra: COVID-19 vaccination for all may not start on May 1

Vaccination of the 18 to 44 age category is unlikely to take off in the state from May 1 because of the unavailability of vaccines With just three days to go the Indian vaccine producers are yet to respond to Maharashtrarsquos demand for a supply schedule and rates The state is prepared to spend Rs 7500 crore for buying 12 crore doses from Indian and foreign companiesVaccineseekers at SRV Hospital in Chembur PicSayyed Sameer AbediHealth minister Rajesh Tope said on Tuesday that the state cabinet would take a final call on the expenditure and SOP for vaccination on Wednesday He said the health secretary had written to Indian vaccine makers on April 26 ldquoThe companies have been told about our requirement of 12 crore vaccine doses for 571 cr people and asked to tell us about the availability and supply schedulerdquo he said expecting the Centre to intervene to reduce the prices of Indian vaccinesQuoting from the CM meeting with Serum Institute of India he said Covishield will be available only after May 20 because of the companyrsquos contractual obligation with the Centre The state hasnrsquot floated a global tender for importing vaccines yetDeputy chief minister Ajit Pawar who heads the finance department said he has signed the proposal which will be put up before the cabinet and CM Uddhav Thackeray will make an announcement He said the cabinet will discuss the eligibility for free vaccination ldquoActually vaccinating all is the Centrersquos job but it wants states to take care of the 18 to 44 age group We will not spare any effort to make provision from our siderdquo said PawarTope said the state can inoculate all eligible people in record time if enough vaccines are available ldquoWe vaccinated 534 lakh people on Monday which is highest for us so far Until now we have given 150 crore doses We can serve 8 lakh per day but for that we must have vaccines at least for a week in advance to take care of logisticsrdquolsquoBelow 45rsquo will get jab only at private centresThe BMC has decided that people between the age group of 18 and 45 years will get the vaccine only at privately run vaccine centres Currently 63 centres are run by civic and government hospitals and there are 73 privately run centres In addition the BMC has received applications from 26 private centres seeking permission for vaccinations The corporation has appealed to private centres to apply for permission so that more centres can be included for vaccination Civic commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal held a review meeting on Tuesday on the expanded vaccination drive in the city after May 1Global tender for oxygen concentratorsTope said the government has floated a global tender expression of interest to procure 40000 oxygen concentrators 25000MT of oxygen 132 pressure swing adsorption oxygen plants and 27 oxygen ISO tanks and 10 lakh remdesivir vials He said the ISO tanks can be installed in districts for a buffer stock A committee under chief secretary will examine the bids At present the state uses 1600MT oxygen which could rise in the coming days Tope said the state needs more remdesivir because it wasnrsquot getting enough from the Centre ldquoMaharashtra has been allotted 437 lakh vials between April 21 and 30 But we are getting 40000 a day which brings some relief because it is more than the previous allotment of 26000rdquo he saidDyCMrsquos rap for ministersDeputy CM Ajit Pawar has advised fellow ministers to stay away from making announcements that should come from CM Thackeray His party colleague Nawab Malik had said that the state would inoculate all for free Another minister Aaditya Thackeray too made a similar statement on social media but deleted it soon after saying such things could be announced only after the statersquos policy was made The cracks in the MVA surfaced when Congress minister Balasaheb Thorat raised objections to the announcements calling it as an attempt to seek credit for individual parties ldquoThe matters that involve financial matters can only be decided and announced by the CM Others should avoid discussing them with the mediardquo he said571 CRNo of people state wants to immunise