Govt to speed up vaccination to combat possible fourth wave

Mumbai Amid the surge in fresh Covid cases, the state government said that the fourth wave may arrive in the state by the month of June-July.

State health minister Rajesh Tope said that the government will now speed up the vaccination drive to combat the potential next wave. He said if the cases continue to rise, the government might even bring back the mask mandate.

Maharashtra on Tuesday recorded 223 cases with two deaths. The cases have been rising in the last few weeks leading to concern among the authorities. Maharashtra recorded a positivity rate of 0.87 % as the number of tests conducted was 25,592. Mumbai recorded 122 new cases with zero deaths.

The active cases have now reached 1,403 with Mumbai leading with 844 cases, followed by Pune at 292 and Thane with 153.

According to Tope, vaccination will serve as an effective deterrent to the anticipated fourth wave. “The Covid cases are rising across India and in Maharashtra. It seems in the current circumstances, vaccines will be the best shield against the impending fourth wave,” said Tope.

He further said that efforts will be made to vaccinate those who are hesitant still. “There are people who refuse to take the vaccine or don’t cooperate in this drive. Due to them, the vaccination numbers in the age group 18-60 years is low. We need to convince these people to vaccinate,” he added.

He further said that the state government has instructed the district administration to keep a strict vigil on the situation and improve the vaccination rate.

A total number of 16,57,10,760 doses have been administered in Maharashtra to date of which 7,28,17,625 people have been totally vaccinated with two doses. A total number of 24,71,731 people have taken precautionary doses.

Dr Ameet Mandot, director, Gut Clinic, said that citizens need to take precautions in view of the surge. “Though the situation may be under control, things can spiral out if adequate care is not taken. Citizens need to wear masks if they are going to large gatherings or medical centres. We cannot afford to take this situation lightly,” warned Dr Mandot.

Dr Lancelot Pinto, a pulmonologist and epidemiologist at Hinduja Hospital said it’s time we stopped talking of waves. “There are bound to be periodic surges but what we should focus is if some new variant arrives which causes hospitalization and is the vaccines don’t react to it,” said Dr Pinto. He said we need to vaccinate older people and those having comorbidities.