Maharashtra needs three crore anti-COVID-19 vaccine doses per month: Rajesh Tope

Mumbai, July 12: Maharashtra needs a minimum of three crore vaccine doses per month to inoculate the entire eligible population against coronavirus at the earliest, state Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Monday.

Talking to reporters, Tope said the state's capacity is to vaccinate 15 lakh people daily, but as of now only two to three lakh people are being inoculated in a day because of the "shortage of vaccine doses".

"Three days ago, we got seven lakh vaccine doses. The stock will be exhausted by the end of the day (July 12). We have got more than 3.60 crore vaccine doses so far and this includes about 25 lakh doses purchased directly by the state government," the minister said.

Till Sunday, a total of 3,65,25,990 vaccine doses were administered in the state, as per official data. When asked about the paucity of vaccine doses in the state, Tope said, "We are working below our capacity. It is literally hand-to-mouth (situation)."

He said if the vaccine doses are supplied properly, the target of vaccinating the entire eligible population can be achieved at the earliest.

On Sunday, Maharashtra reported 8,535 new cases of coronavirus, taking the infection tally to 61,57,799, while 156 more fatalities pushed the death toll to 1,25,878, as per the state health department.