Maharashtra never lagged behind in fight against COVID-19: CM Uddhav Thackeray

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. File Pic

Amid blame game over COVID-19 mitigation efforts in the state, especially a shortage of vaccines, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Maharashtra has never lagged behind in its fight against COVID and it will certainly not happen in the future.

He made the remark during an online interaction with Modi, a day after Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan claimed that misgovernance, utter casual approach and lackadaisical attitude of the state government bogged down the entire nation's efforts to contain the spread. Thackeray asked Modi to advise leaders to stop politicising the pandemic.

Thursday was the PM's second online meeting with the CMs in a month. Modi stressed on the need for achieving ‘zero wastage' of vaccines and removing shortcomings in planning and governance at the local level. He asked states to focus on tier 2 and tier 3 cities where the virus was spreading fast in the second wave. He suggested a three-day vaccine festival from April 11 to 14 for vaccinating as many eligible beneficiaries as possible. Thackeray said the state could expedite vaccination if Haffkine Institute is allowed to produce the doses, and if the Centre increases the quota of vaccines as per the state's growing demand. He said the shortage of doses had resulted in closing of vaccination centres. The CM reiterated the demand for vaccinating everyone aged between 25 and 45.