Maharashtra lockdown to be extended; No vaccination for 18-44 age group from May 1

New Delhi, Apr 28: The lockdown in Maharashtra will be extended by another 15 days beyond April 30 amid COVID-19 surge. The state cabinet meet held to discuss covid situation in the state also said that the next phase of vaccination, for people aged between 18 and 44, will not start on May 1.

State Public Health Minister Rajesh Tope said all members of the cabinet, who participated in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, pitched for such extension.

The free vaccination decision was taken at the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray here. The move will put a burden of Rs 6,500 crore on the state''s coffers, Tope said.

"A citizen will be vaccinated for free only at government-run centres. Citizens will have to pay for vaccines at private facilities," he added.

Tope''s remarks on the forthcoming drive wherein people above 18 years will become eligible for immunisation came amid reports that many people in Maharashtra are not getting the doses due to the shortage.

However, the Union health ministry said on Wednesday that the total COVID vaccine doses received by Maharashtra as onApril28 (at 8 am) are 1,58,62,470. Of this, the total consumption, including wastage (0.22 per cent), was 1,53,56,151.

"The balance of 5,06,319 vaccine doses is still available with the state for administration to the eligible population groups," the ministry said.

It said that 5,00,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine are in the pipeline for delivery in the next three days to Maharashtra.

The demand for the vaccines is on the rise in Maharashtra which is hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

As of April 27, the state''s cumulative caseload stood at 44,10,085 while the count of fatalities was 66,179, the state health department had said.

Maharashtra had 6,72,434 active cases as on Tuesday, the officials had said.

On Wednesday, scores of people in many cities in the state, including Mumbai, couldn''t get themselves inoculated due to the shortage of vaccines at various facilities.

According to the Maharashtra health department, the state has inoculated a total of 1,53,37,832 people so far, including 25,15,076 in Mumbai alone.