Why is Mah getting fewer COVID vaccine doses: Tope

 

 

 

MAHARASHTRA Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Thursday sought to know why the State was getting fewer number of COVID-19 vaccine doses as compared to some other States, including Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, even as it is leading the vaccination drive and has the highest number of active cases in the country. His statement comes a day after Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said that the “lackadaisical attitude” of the Maharashtra Government had singularly bogged down the entire country’s efforts to fight the virus.

 

In a Facebook live, Tope reiterated that Maharashtra requires 40 lakh vaccine doses per week, and made it clear that the vaccination drive was not an issue of conflict between the Centre and the State. He said, the State on Thursday received 7.5 lakh doses. “Today, after I spoke to the Union Health Minister, I was told that we will get 17.5 lakh doses after April 15, but our demand is 40 lakh doses a week,” Tope said. He said that while Maharashtra received 7.5 lakh doses, Uttar Pradesh was given 48 lakh doses, Madhya Pradesh 40 lakh, Gujarat 30 lakh and Haryana 24 lakh doses.

 

“Why is Maharashtra, which is leading the vaccination drive and has the highest number of active cases, getting only 7.5 lakh doses?” he asked. He said that the State accounts for 55 per cent of the total number of active cases in the country and the vaccination supply should be as per the need. “This is what we expect. The State and the Centre need to unitedly save people from corornavirus,” he said. “We will maintain the (vaccination) level of six lakh (doses) per day. We will not go beyond that at this stage, but at least give us 40 lakh vaccines per week,” Tope added.