Maharashtra minister Rajesh Tope tells 22 districts to achieve state vaccination average in 15 days

PUNE: Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope on Friday said the 22 districts behind the state average of administering 90% first dose and 65% second shot had been told to push up the inoculation against Covid-19 this fortnight.
The decision was taken in the cabinet meeting on Thursday. “We have directed the collectors and the commissioners to use all possible methods to ensure that there is maximum coverage in the next 15 days,” he told TOI.
The state health officials stated that the average daily vaccination in the state had plummeted to 5-6 lakh now.
“The state wants to focus on increasing the vaccination percentage because its daily average has dipped. We have tried requesting people and conducted home visits. These districts have to first cross the state average and then surpass the national average,” Tope said.
The vaccination coverage is poorest in Nandurbar, Beed and Nanded districts. Less than 77% of the target population have been administered the first dose there till now.
The other districts having below 80% first dose coverage are Jalgaon, Buldhana, Latur, Yavatmal, Parbhani, Hingoli and Dhule. The officials claimed that these districts had been given enough doses.
State immunisation officer S Desai said Nandurbar, Beed and Nanded districts continued to lag from the onset of the Covid vaccination drive, while some others improved their vaccine coverage with time. He said the local authorities had been directed to ensure that they maximised the drive and convinced people to take the vaccine.
Nandurbar collector Manisha Khatri on Friday cited outbound migration as the reason for the district’s poor show. She said the revised electoral roll had listed 12 lakh beneficiaries and nearly 11 lakh of them had been inoculated. “We are trying to address the migration and beneficiary-spotting issues,” she said, adding that home-to-home drive and camps in hilly terrain were being conducted.
Ahmednagar collector R Bhosale said he had roped in politicians to conduct vaccination drives. “Our coverage is around 83%. Several drives will be held to reach the state average of 90%,” he said.