Maharashtra may suspend Covid-19 vaccination for 18-44 years temporarily due to shortage: Rajesh Tope

Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday informed that the state government is considering suspending the Covid19 vaccination drive temporarily for 1844 years due to shortageldquoThere is a dearth of vaccines hence we are considering holding off vaccination drive temporarily for the 1844 age group Currently 275 lakh vaccine doses are left for this group and it will be used for 45 years and above group now Administering the second dose is our priorityrdquo Rajesh Tope told ANIThere is a dearth of vaccines hence were considering holding off vaccination drive temporarily for 1844 age group 275 lakh vaccine doses left for this group thatll be used for 45 yrs amp above group now Administering 2nd dose is priority Maharashtra Health Min Rajesh Tope pictwittercomKkJ4e9U9MWmdash ANI ANI May 11 2021In the past nine days nearly 25000 beneficiaries have received their first dose as per official data till Monday Civic officials attribute the slow progress to limited stock and assured that infrastructure is ready to speed up the drive once they have enough supplyMerely 03 per cent ie 24903 of the people in the target group have received their first dose till May 9 The city has 90 lakhplus eligible beneficiaries in the 1844 age groupCovid19 immunisation of the 1844 age group which started on May 1 has been progressing at a snails pace due to limited stock of vaccines Consequently the BMC allowed vaccination at only five centres mdash Nair hospital BKC jumbo Covid19 centre SevenHills Rajawadi and Cooper hospitals On May 7 three more were added mdash World Tower in Lower Parel Chunabhatti Maternity Home and PWD Community Hall in BandraThe BMC is planning to float global tenders to procure 50 lakh vaccine vials which are expected to reach citizens in a month and a half The vaccines would be offered in civicrun centres only and citizens are likely to get them free of cost Further the tenders would have the condition that countries bordering India cannot participate which means the Chinese vaccine wonrsquot be allowedBMC will be inviting an expression of interest in the next two days It does not have a price range specification as of now and the tenders will be open ones With the demand high civic officials said that prices are bound to be higher and as such they are not setting a price and would have an idea when the bids are inTope further said that the patients suffering from Mucormycosis will be treated for free under the state governments flagship medical insurance schemeldquoMucormycosis patients will be treated for free under Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana Over 2000 cases have been reported and 8 people have died of this infection in Maharashtra so far We are making special wards for these patientsrdquo he addedMucormycosis patients will be treated for free under Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana Over 2000 cases have been reported amp 8 people have died of this infection in the state so far We are making special wards for these patients Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope pictwittercomXnAT9loG5Fmdash ANI ANI May 11 2021Mucormycosis is a black fungal infection hitting an increasing number of Covid19 patients and those who have recoveredAmid talks of lockdown extension Tope said the decision will be taken in the cabinet meeting on WednesdayldquoThe decision of extension of lockdown in the state will be taken in the cabinet meeting tomorrow May 12rdquo Tope further saidDecision over extension of lockdown in the state will be taken in the cabinet meeting tomorrow Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh TopeCOVID19 pictwittercom5xmrHwzx2rmdash ANI ANI May 11 2021On Monday Mumbai registered a drop in the number of daily Covid19 cases drastically to below 2000 a first in nearly two months According to the BMCrsquos data officials in the city confirmed 1794 new Covid19 infections However there was a slight spike in fresh casualties Of the 74 Covid19 deceased 51 patients had comorbidities 44 were senior citizens and 27 were aged between 40 and 60 years A total of 3580 patients were discharged in the city on Monday after they recovered The recovery rate in Mumbai currently stands at 91 per cent