Calling for relaxation of the vaccination age limit, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow all people over the age of 45, with or without comorbidities, to get vaccinated.
Thackeray made the demand during the virtual meeting that chief ministers had with the PM on a day Maharashtra reported 23,179 new Covid-19 cases.
“Considering that a large number of youngsters are infected with coronavirus, all aged 45 years and above, with or without comorbidities, should be vaccinated,” Thackeray said during the interaction.
Maintaining that more vaccination centres should be allowed to come up, Thackeray sought that state-run Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Corporation be allowed to produce vaccines.
“The centres or hospitals, which are willing and have the capacity to administer vaccines, should be allowed to do so. While many private hospitals in Maharashtra have also registered for vaccination, a decision will be taken after checking how many are actually prepared for it. Efforts will be made to vaccinate up to 3 lakh people daily,” said Thackeray.
He added that Haffkine should get permission from the ICMR under ‘Mission Covid Suraksha’ to produce vaccines. A statement by the CM’s office said that following Thackeray’s request, the PM said that support and encouragement would be given to organisations that can produce vaccines in all states.
