PUNE: Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope on Saturday said he had sought three crore vaccine doses per month from the Centre to cover everyone in the state’s 18-44 and 45-plus beneficiary groups within five to six months.
The state has carried out 2.5 crore vaccinations so far.
It includes 40 lakh in Mumbai, where 70,461 people took the vaccine on Saturday.
Tope told TOI on Saturday that plans are on to target 10 lakh jabs a day.
He said, “I had a detailed conversation with Union health minister Harsh Vardhan, who said that within days, the Centre will unveil a policy explaining how vaccines will be supplied to the state.
Plans include volume of supply and cold-chain arrangements Maharashtra will have to make, considering some shots will need -18°C storage temperature.” The state’s 5.71 crore people in 18-44 group will need nearly 12 crore doses.
There are another 2.5 crore people in 45-plus group who will need five crore doses.
“To cover these groups, the state will need three crore doses every month (from July).
We aim to have 10 lakh daily vaccinations,” Tope said.
In Mumbai, 72% out of 70,461 who got vaccinated on Saturday belonged to the 18-44 age group; these vaccinations were carried out by private hospitals.
BMC has got stock of 1 lakh vaccine doses now, while the state has 10 lakh doses.
Nisha Nambiar