Breaking
Delay in vaccination could increase mutant strains: Maharashtra Covid task force member warns Govt on shortage of vaccines
Mumbai: Dr Rahul Pandit, a member of Maharashtra’s Covid-19 task force, has said that there is no consistency in the vaccination programme in the state.
He added that getting more and more people vaccinated at the earliest is the only long-term solution to the current Covid-19 crisis.
“There is no consistency and the prime reason behind this is that the state isn’t getting adequate doses. To get out of this pandemic, we have to get the maximum number of people vaccinated at the earliest. If we can vaccinate the adult population by December-end, we will perhaps be able to get ourselves out of the pandemic,” said Dr Rahul Pandit, who is also Director, Critical Care, Fortis Hospital-Mumbai.
The senior doctor also expressed fear that if the vaccination target keeps on increasing, there would be two-fold problems for the state.
“First of all, we will not be able to get out of the pandemic and won’t have a hold over the pandemic if this shift continues. Secondly, with an increase in time, the number of mutant strains could also increase. Hence, it is important that the vaccination programme runs in one flow and, in fact, it should happen at a rapid pace to reach the target at the earliest,” he added.
The fatality rate is 2.02 per cent, while active cases stand at 1.14 lakh. 6,24,511 people are in home quarantine and 4,572 people are in institutional quarantine.
Mumbai (11470), Thane (16546), Pune (17435), Sangli (10853), Kolhapur (13661), Satara (7958), Beed (2378) are some of the areas in the state where active cases are still relatively higher.
Vaccine Crisis in Maharashtra
On July 9, the vaccination drive was stopped in all the state and BMC-run vaccination centres in Mumbai. This is the second time in July that the BMC had to shut its vaccination centres in Maharashtra owing to a lack of doses of approved Covid-19 vaccines,
The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government has blamed the Central government for the vaccine crisis in Maharashtra.
Talking to India Today TV, Mumbai Guardian Minister Aslam Shaikh accused the Central government of playing with the people’s lives.
“All the non-BJP states in the country are fed up right now. The planning and implementation of the Central government is totally flawed. On the one hand, the prime minister and other leaders make big announcements on vaccination, but on the other, they forget there are places like Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Kolhapur that often don’t have adequate vaccines,” he said.
“How often should the centres remain shut? The government has increased the time gap between two doses of Covishield to more than 80 days and yet cannot provide the vaccine. For long should people suffer?” he asked.
Shaikh added that more companies should be allowed to manufacture vaccines so that the states can purchase and benefit.
“If you are not able to get us vaccines, allow other makers of the world so that the states can purchase and benefit. But the central government is not allowing one thing, nor is it ready with the other. What can the state government do in such a scenario? A crisis has developed in the country right now,” he said.
Meanwhile, BMC officials said they were hopeful of receiving sufficient doses by Friday evening, and vaccination is likely to resume in Mumbai by Saturday.