Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said the COVID-19 pandemic took everyone to pre-independence days and appealed to people to take the pledge to make the state and the country free of the disease.
In his address after unfurling the national flag at the state secretariat 'Mantralaya' on the country's 75th Independence Day, Thackeray said the state was fighting COVID-19 with determination and the vaccination drive against the disease was also being expedited.
'Just yesterday, we achieved a milestone of vaccinating 9.5 lakh citizens on a single day,' he noted. The CM said the country achieved independence due to people's struggle and movement. 'We are now celebrating 75 years of freedom, and we have to take the pledge that we will make our state and the country free of coronavirus and celebrate the Independence Day next year freely. The pandemic had taken everyone back to the pre-independence days and we were all experiencing the same in the last one-and-a-half years,' he said.
Thackeray said most of the COVID-19 restrictions are now being relaxed. 'But the threat is far from over. New strains of the virus are being detected in other countries...we have to take care that the threat doesn't hit us,' he said. The CM said even though medicines and vaccines are available, 'there is still a shortage of oxygen'.
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