Many Maharashtra districts to run out of vaccine stock soon: Official

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Several districts in Maharashtra will run out of the COVID-19 vaccine stock in a day or two and the Centre has been informed about it, a senior state health official said on Wednesday. As on Wednesday morning, the state has around 14 lakh vaccine doses, principal secretary (health) Pradeep Vyas told PTI. "Many districts will run out of the stock today or tomorrow. The Centre isaware of the situation and (we) have also communicated in writing," he said.

Maharashtra can easily administer five lakh vaccine shots in a day if there is a clarity on schedule and availability, the official said. For the last few days, the state has been vaccinating about four lakh people daily. Nearly 82 lakh people have been vaccinated so far in Maharashtra since the roll-out of the inoculation drive. An official statement on Tuesday said Maharashtra had received 1.06 crore doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, out of which 88 lakh doses have been used while the wastage stood at three per cent.

It said the state government will vigorously pursue its demand for more stock of vaccine doses, considering the rapid rise in the COVID-19 cases and expansion of the vaccination drive. Notably, state Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow people above 25 years to receive COVID-19 shots, which he said will protect the young people from the rapid spread of the viral infection at a time when they are stepping outside their homes to earn a livelihood.

In a letter to the PM, Thackeray also demanded that Maharashtra be provided 1.5 crore additional doses of vaccines, which will enable the state government to complete within three weeks the vaccination of beneficiaries above 45 years of age in six districts, including Mumbai.

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