Notwithstanding short supply of vaccines from the Centre, Maharashtra on Monday became the first and only state in the country to fully vaccinate more than 1 crore people against the coronavirus pandemic. The number of people who have been administered both doses has reached 1,00,64,308. As many as 3,75, 974 people have been vaccinated through 4,100 vaccination centres in the state till 4 pm today.
Public Health Minister Rajesh Tope said, ‘’The state has set a record after more than 1 crore people have been administered both doses of COVID 19 vaccine and they have been given full protection against the virus. A great job by health department personnel in relentlessly carrying out the vaccination to combat the virus.’’
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray hailed the health department’s work. On the other hand, Tourism and Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray in a tweet said, ‘’Despite the tremendous natural calamities, today Maharashtra set a benchmark of being India’s first and only (as yet, and we hope for many more states soon) to have fully vaccinate 1 crore people. Congratulations to our doctors, nurses, medics and other officials for this!’’
Cumulatively, 4,13,19,105 people were inoculated since the launch of universal vaccination drive on January 16. Of these, 3,16,09,227 people have received the first shot.
Uttar Pradesh tops among other states with the cumulative vaccination of 4,44,12,776 while Maharashtra ranks second with 4,13,19,105 followed by Gujarat 3,16,39,430, Rajasthan 3,03,75,859, Karnataka 2,88,86,701, Madhya Pradesh 2,78,68,365, West Bengal 2,77, 59,916 and Bihar 2,25,25,577.
Tope said the state government could increase the pace of vaccination provided it gets additional supply of vaccine doses. He argued that if 60 to 70 percent are vaccinated, collective immunity will be created.
Tope said the state’s minimum capacity is to inoculate 10 lakh people daily against present level of 3 lakh to 3.5 lakh a day. However, the state can ramp up the vaccination to 15 lakh a day if the Centre provides more vaccine doses.
