'Vaccine stock for 1.5 days, oxygen stock for next 5-6 days in Maharashtra'

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope sought to know why the state was getting a 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.

Mumbai: Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Thursday said that the state has been facing an acute shortage of coronavirus vaccine. He informed that the state has close 26 vaccine centres in Mumbai because of a shortage of the vials. "We have vaccine stock only for 1.5 days. At the same time, if the number of corona patients keeps growing like this, we may face an oxygen shortage in 5 to 6 days. We need to take oxygen supply from neighbouring states", added the minister.

However, NCP leader Sharad Pawar spoke to the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan over the phone. Pawar appealed to the central government to help Maharashtra in the light of acute need. He also said that both the government should work together to fight against the deadly virus.

Tope also sought to know why the state was getting a 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 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,"

Tope said.

He said that while the state 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 coronavirus," 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.

He said that Maharashtra, which has a population of 12 crores, has received 1.04 crore doses so far, whereas neighbouring Gujarat, with a population of six crores and

17,000 active cases, has got one crore doses. Maharashtra has the maximum number of active patients- around 4.5 lakh as of date, while its total caseload has crossed the 30 lakh mark, he lamented.

"We hardly have nine lakh doses left, which would last one day or one-and-a-half days," he said, adding that several vaccination centres in Satara, Sangli and Panvel have been shut due to the shortage. The minister also said that the state was following the ICMR guidelines of a 70:30 ratio of RT-PCR test and rapid antigen test (RAT).

"We are strictly following what the ICMR suggested," he said while pointing out that in Uttar Pradesh it is another way around 90 per cent RATs and 10 per cent RT-PCRs.

Many developed countries have started vaccinating people above 18 years of age. Considering the rapid rise in cases in Maharashtra, the state government has demanded vaccination for the 18 to 40 years age group, he added.