Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, urging him to allow Covid vaccination for all those above 25 years of age. He said that vaccinating a large number of young people, especially those going out to work, would help reduce the number of patients.
Regarding the Covid-19 situation in Maharashtra, Thackeray said that the state had always been transparent in providing information and has also increased the speed of testing. “We are taking measures with the determination that every Covid-19 patient must be cured. We have put in place some strict restrictions through our ‘Break the Chain’ campaign, to prevent the virus from becoming more harmful than it was last year,” he said.
He added that the state had been assiduously participating in the Covid vaccination drive. “Till April 4, 76.86 lakh people have been vaccinated. On April 3, we vaccinated 4.62 lakh people in the state," he said.
Thackeray further requested 1.5 crore additional doses from the Centre. “We are trying to speed up the vaccination. Hence, the Centre should provide us with extra doses. We are ready to vaccinate everyone above the age of 45 in just three weeks, from the six most affected districts like Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Nashik, Aurangabad, and Nagpur," said Thackeray. The Free Press Journal had broken the story of the government’s demand for additional doses on Sunday.
Thackeray has said that the state government could vaccinate six to seven lakh people daily if the Centre would supply additional vaccines to Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government on Sunday imposed strict restrictions throughout the week and weekend lockdowns. “There will be a complete lockdown except for essential services, from 8 pm on Fridays to 7am on Monday, while a night curfew will be in place from 8 pm to 7 am every day. All private offices will remain shut while government offices will function at 50 per cent strength, except for those involved in Covid-19 work, which will operate with 100 per cent staff. Shops, malls, markets, cinema halls, drama theatres, salons will remain shut,” the government order read.
