The Covid-19 vaccine stocks in Maharashtra have reached a critically low level, and may not last last more than a couple of days.

The Centre needs to immediately release at least 40 lakh vaccine doses so that it can take care of vaccination for at least one week, said State Health Minister, Rajesh Tope, on Thursday.

Addressing his second press conference in 24 hours, Tope said the latest vaccine release order shows that Maharashtra will get 7.5 lakh doses, Madhya Pradesh 40 lakh, Gujarat 30 lakh and Haryana 24 lakh. These numbers are self-explanatory, Maharashtra is being discriminated against, he said.

Tope said that he has been in constant touch with Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan for getting stocks. The State needs 40 lakh doses a week to meet its monthly target of vaccinating 1.6 crore people.

Real picture

Tope said the real picture of vaccine distribution is different. Maharashtra’s population is 12 crore, while Gujarat’s is 6 crore. But Gujarat gets a higher supply of vaccines than Maharashtra, he said.

Vaccines wasted: Javadekar

PTI adds : Union Minister Prakash Javadekar alleged on Thursday that five lakh doses of the Covid-19 vaccines were wasted in Maharashtra due to a lack of planning by the State government.

Addressing a press conference, Javadekar said he has taken all the information and 23 lakh doses are available with the Maharashtra government. He alleged the Maharashtra government has “wasted five lakh doses of vaccines, and it is not a small number, due to its lack of planning.