Pune: Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope on Saturday told TOI that the state government currently had no plan to finance the precautionary dose drive for those aged between 18 and 60 years at private sites from Sunday.
The minister said the issue was discussed in the cabinet, but no decision was taken on it.
“Currently, private vaccination sites will commence with the drive from April 10, as directed by the Centre. We shall see how it goes and then decide on the state financing for the drive to cover this group with the third dose,” he said.
Tope said those keen on the third dose would have to go to the private sites for vaccination. “We shall let some days pass, observe the response and then discuss the issue of state funding for the drive,” he said.
Many public health experts said the third dose drive might not see the desired response from the beneficiaries because they would have to pay for it. Senior health officials, under the condition of anonymity, said the overall pace of vaccination had dipped in the state with just about 2 lakh doses being administered in a day.
Officials expect the momentum of administering the precaution dose would be low because of the nine-month gap rider after the second dose. According to a rough estimate, the booster expansion drive would be slow in the state in the first 20-25 days.
At present, the first dose coverage in the state is 92.11% and it is 74.63% for the second dose for the 18-plus category. On the Centre’s missive to the state on Friday to increase the cluster monitoring of cases, Tope said the districts registering a higher positivity than the state average were in focus.
The Centre on Friday reached out to Delhi, Haryana, Kerala, Mizoram and Maharashtra to keep a strict vigil on clusters and ensure good surveillance.
The minister said the issue was discussed in the cabinet, but no decision was taken on it.
“Currently, private vaccination sites will commence with the drive from April 10, as directed by the Centre. We shall see how it goes and then decide on the state financing for the drive to cover this group with the third dose,” he said.
Tope said those keen on the third dose would have to go to the private sites for vaccination. “We shall let some days pass, observe the response and then discuss the issue of state funding for the drive,” he said.
Many public health experts said the third dose drive might not see the desired response from the beneficiaries because they would have to pay for it. Senior health officials, under the condition of anonymity, said the overall pace of vaccination had dipped in the state with just about 2 lakh doses being administered in a day.
Officials expect the momentum of administering the precaution dose would be low because of the nine-month gap rider after the second dose. According to a rough estimate, the booster expansion drive would be slow in the state in the first 20-25 days.
At present, the first dose coverage in the state is 92.11% and it is 74.63% for the second dose for the 18-plus category. On the Centre’s missive to the state on Friday to increase the cluster monitoring of cases, Tope said the districts registering a higher positivity than the state average were in focus.
The Centre on Friday reached out to Delhi, Haryana, Kerala, Mizoram and Maharashtra to keep a strict vigil on clusters and ensure good surveillance.
