Faced with an acute shortage of vaccines, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government on Saturday urged the Centre to formulate a criteria-based policy on distribution and disbursement of vaccines to various states.
Besides, it reiterated the demand of 1.6 crore vaccine doses per month to ensure smooth inoculation of people and fight the pandemic.
“We have scaled up the daily vaccination up to six lakh people. Weekly we are able to vaccinate 40 lakh people and monthly around 1.60 crore….we need vaccines accordingly, please provide us,” Public Health and Family Welfare Minister Rajesh Tope said.
According to him, the Centre is distributing the vaccine and it must consider the fact that 60 per cent of the active cases of India is in Maharashtra.
“Where there are more cases, it is necessary that we develop immunity and vaccines are the only answer…it is the kavach-kundal that we need, it is the Ram-baan and it is the raj-marg,” Tope said in an appeal to the Narendra Modi government.
He also pointed out that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and NCP President Sharad Pawar are also of the same opinion and the MVA government has been repeatedly pleading with the Centre for more vaccines.
Tope said that he has been in touch with Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsha Vardhan and Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on a regular basis and pleading with them to replenish the stocks.
He said that out of the latest dispatch of 3.5 crore doses, Maharashtra got 7.5 lakh and after much persuasion, the Centre has added another 10 lakh.
Reeling facts and figures, he said as of now the state has eight lakh doses available of its stock that has been received earlier. “We have been told we will get four lakh doses in a day’s time and rest thereafter,” he said.
“Lot of arrangements need to be done…if it is Mumbai or Pune, it is okay…we have to send vaccines to far-flung areas…we are a big state…it needs planning and scheduling,” he said.
Tope pointed out that of the latest supply of 3.5 crore doses, many smaller states with less population and less number of active cases had got more doses than Maharashtra. “Maharashtra with a population of over 12 crore accounts for 60 per cent of the total active cases in the country… Gujarat has a population of 6 crore and 70,000 cases…The progressive total in Maharashtra has crossed 30 lakh while in Gujarat it is around 3.5 lakh.
"The criteria should be decided in terms of size of the population and number of active cases…there should be a criteria-based policy on distribution and disbursement of vaccines to the states,” he said.