MUMBAI: A surge in Covid-19 cases and a door-todoor campaign to cover those who have defaulted on their second and precautionary doses have marginally pushed up daily average vaccinations across the state. From an average of 55,000, daily immunisation numbers have reached 67,000 in recent days.
On Saturday, more than one lakh people in Maharashtra took Covid-19 vaccine shots, the highest seen in nearly a month. In Mumbai, nearly 20,000 got vaccinated on Saturday, again one of the highest volumes seen in recent weeks.
The average number of senior citizens coming out to ta ke booster shots has almost doubled to 15,000 compared to 8,000-9,500 seen in previous weeks in the state.
In certain districts, there has been a slight rise in people taking second doses too, which is good news given that the state has almost 1. 7 crore people who never showed up for their second shot.
Dr Sachin Desai, state immunisation officer, said that with the 'Har ghar dastak' campaign starting in most districts, vaccination numbers have seen an increase.
The numbers are expected to go up more as schools and colleges reopen shortly. Many senior citizens are comi ng out for precautionary doses, which is much needed since Maharashtra is a long way from covering all senior citizens with the third shot.
As per state data, 77. 5% (17 lakh) of senior citizens have taken booster shots out of 21. 4 lakh who became eligible having completed nine months since their second shot. However, if the state’s overall senior citizen population is considered, which is approximately 1. 2 crore, then not even 15% have taken the precautionary dose.
Dr Shashank Joshi, a member of the state Covid task force, said that there is a silent wave going on in some districts of Maharashtra from which the vulnerable can protect themselves by masking and taking their vaccine shots.
With cases seeing a surge, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has directed districts to increase vaccination coverage across age groups. A letter from the Centre addressed to the state’s health secretary on Friday mentioned vaccination as the fourth key intervention in addition to Covid-19's primary ‘test-tracktreat’ strategy.
