Maharashtra may face third COVID-19 wave if vaccination slows: Experts

A slowdown in the ongoing vaccination drive in Maharashtra battling a savage surge in COVID19 cases will potentially pave the way for a third wave of the infection in the state health experts warned on WednesdayThe warning came on a day when the Maharashtra government said it is not going to start the vaccination drive from May 1 for the 1844 age group because of unavailability of sufficient dosesHealth Minister Rajesh Tope has already expressed concern over the inadequate supply of vaccines for Maharashtra the state worsthit by the pandemic amid reports of a shortage of doses for the existing beneficiaries 45plus people putting the inoculation drive on a slow trackThe true curbing of COVID19 can happen only if two thirds of the population eligible for vaccination is covered under the inoculation driveOut of 9 crore people eligible for vaccination in Maharashtra we have just covered over 150 crore so far which is negligible said a senior official from state health departmentHe pitched for fasttracking the inoculation drive which began on January 16 with healthcare professionals and was later extended to cover frontline workers and people in the 45plus age groupIf we do not accelerate the pace of vaccination sooner or later people will venture out for jobs and other work and this could invite the third wave of COVID19 he warnedRelaxation of measures in December made people careless and this triggered the second wave of COVID19 from February We are still suffering from itIf we do not vaccinate a major chunk of the population quickly we will be rolling out the red carpet for the third wave the health department official saidIn April so far the state has added 1553922 fresh COVID19 cases and 11281 deathsTope on Wednesday said The Maharashtra government is unlikely to get vaccines from Bharat Biotech or Serum Institute of India before May 20In that case we cannot start vaccination for the 1844 age group from May 1 We will have to wait for the third week of MayA member of the state task force on COVID19 said with more vaccines in hand Maharashtra could have inoculated a large number of peopleThere will be several hurdles in the monsoon to carry out the drive including heavy rains and landslides he saidA Congress leader said the COVID19 situation is alarming but we are wasting a golden opportunity to inoculate as many people as possible in the summerIf we go by the health ministers projection of six month period required to inoculate 55 crore population in the state then we cannot expect current strict measures to remain in force for such a long period the leader saidA scientist involved in genome sequencing of the novel coronavirus said if the virus keeps mutating it will defeat the purpose of vaccinationIf we spend such a long time for vaccination we may find new mutations or variants of COVID19 which would be immune to the vaccine he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever