Maharashtra govt to begin week-long special vaccination drive for college students

Maharashtra government will begin a week-long covid-19 vaccination drive for college students between the age of 18-25 in the state. The drive will also include teachers and other staff members who are eligible for the jab. The special vaccination drive will continue till 2 November.

The health minister of the state, Rajesh Tope while announcing about  the special inoculation drive had said that the Covid-19 vaccination among the youth is the need of the hour as colleges and universities have started to open in the state.

The health minister also added that those universities and colleges which perform well in this inoculation drive will be rewarded. 

According to estimates there are nearly four million college students in the state of Maharashtra, including all those pursuing higher education, technical education, medical studies or are enrolled in non-affiliated and private colleges.

Meanwhile, around 70 per cent of eligible beneficiaries in Maharashtra have got the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while the remaining people may be showing vaccine hesitancy, state health minister Rajesh Tope said in Jalna on Saturday. Speaking to reporters, he said getting these people to overcome their hesitancy was the health department's biggest challenge now.

 "Around 70 per cent people have got the first jab. The remaining are reluctant. It is a challenge for the health department to pursue them to take the vaccine dose," he said. Queried about speculations around a booster dose (third shot), Tope said there are no guidelines at present on this topic from the Indian Council of Medical Research, adding that the state government cannot take a decision on it.

In another development, Maharashtra on Sunday reported fewer coronavirus infections at 1,410, as per the state health bulletin.

According to the state health bulletin, as many as 18 COVID-19 patients died in the state during the day, while 1,520 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours and a total number of 64,35,439 patients discharged so far.

As per the health bulletin, the number of active cases in the state stands at 23,894 and total cases have gone up to 66,02,961.

There are 1,91,401 people in-home quarantine and another 903 in institutional quarantine.

The state's COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 97.46 per cent, while the fatality rate is 2.12 per cent.

The cumulative number of coronavirus tests conducted in the state so far climbed to 6,18,93,695.

Among districts, Mumbai reported the highest new infections at 408 and six deaths, taking the state capital's caseload to 7,53,680 and the death toll to 16,213.