Nearly 90,000 beneficiaries were vaccinated on Monday at the 340 Covid vaccine centres across the city. According to the data, 86,887 registered beneficiaries have taken the jab in the last 24 hours, of which 56,365 beneficiaries were between the age group of 18 to 44 years, while only 468 lactating mothers were vaccinated.
So far, 32.76 lakh beneficiaries have taken vaccine shots in the city since the national immunisation drive started in mid-January. Of which 25.25 lakh have taken the first dose, while 7.50 lakh have taken the second dose.
Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner, said the vaccination drive is taking place now as most of the private hospitals are administering vaccines to 18 plus. Moreover, people are coming forward to take the jab fearing they will contract infections.
“We have less than one lakh covid vaccine doses and soon we are expecting more to come. Moreover, adult people are keen on taking a vaccine as most of them are going abroad for studies,” he said.
Dr Subhash Salunke, advisor to the state on Covid control, said, if 60% of the vulnerable population is fully vaccinated by July-end, along with strict checks on potential super-spreading events, Maharashtra should be better equipped to handle the third wave.
“An ideal situation would have been simultaneous vaccination coverage of at least 80% in the 45-plus group, 60 per cent of the 18-44 age group, along with public health measures to best tackle another surge,” he said.
