Amidst the ongoing controversy over the vaccine shortage in Maharashtra, health minister Rajesh Tope said that there is no confrontation with the Centre and it should apply criteria of a number of patients per million while supplying vaccines to Maharashtra.
His comments came a day after the blistering attack from the union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and I&B minister for poor vaccination management.
Speaking about the allegation by the Centre, Tope stated that the world acclaimed bodies have hailed the state government's efforts and the state is transparent in providing a number of COVID-19 cases and deaths without hiding any facts.
Tope said that as per the latest release order of vaccines from the Centre, Maharashtra has been given 7.5 lakh vaccine dosages only. While Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana etc have been given far more vaccines than Maharashtra. He also added that he spoke with Dr Harsh Vardhan and he assured that more supply will be made soon.
While speaking about the effects of vaccine shortage, Tope informed that vaccination was affected in Satara, Sangli, Panvel, Buldhana. He also informed that the 26 vaccination centres were closed in Mumbai adding that the state govt is waiting for more vaccine doses from the Centre.
The minister also claimed that the state has received a paltry 7.40 lakh vaccines against higher doses to other states. Tope spoke to Dr Harsh Vardhan and made a fresh appeal for the supply of more vaccine doses as the state has left with stock just for three days.
