No covishield vaccine supply in Maharashtra till May 26

New Delhi : Serum Institute of India chief Adar Poonawalla on Friday told Maharashtra that he will not be able to supply covishield vaccine doses till May 26.

"Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had a telephonic chat with Poonawalla, currently in London, on the issue and was informed they could not give doses till May 26," Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said at a media conference on Friday.

He informed that the current priority for the government is to vaccinate maximum people and they are capable of vaccinating 8-10 lakh people daily from 5-7000 centres spreaded across the state. Till May 6, the state has administered the vaccine to 1.73 lakh beneficiaries.

Tope also flagged the need for an urgent supply of doses of Covaxin for beneficiaries waiting for their second jabs.

“Here we have urged the Centre time and again to release doses of Covaxin as a sizable chunk of four to five lakh beneficiaries are waiting for their second doses across the state,” Tope said. 

“The state has written several letters to the Centre for the Covaxin doses. However if the supply does not come on time we have no other option but to divert the doses purchased by the state for the age group 18-44 group for this group of beneficiaries who need the second shot of Covaxin,” Tope said.

The vaccination for all above 18 years of age was started on May 1. Meanwhile, India on Friday registered another peak with 4.14 lakh coronavirus cases and more than 3,900 deaths in 24 hours.

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