MUMBAI: Maharashtra is inching closer to administering 70 lakh booster shots in the state after the drive got a push under the 75-day special campaign. Despite the acceleration, only 3.7% of the population between 18-59 years has been covered with the third shot, underlining that it may not be possible to cover a majority of the population with a booster at the current pace.
The state estimates that more than 5 crore people are eligible for the booster shot, but only 69.61 lakh have taken it till Sunday. An average of 1.5 lakh to 2 lakh people are vaccinated daily, of which the majority are taking precautionary doses.
A state official said that since the special drive started on July 15, nearly 30 lakh people have taken the booster shots across age groups. Of that, more than 20lakh shots have been taken by the 18-59 age band who were otherwise not eligible to get free shots in public centres.
Data also shows that the demand for booster shots in the 18-59 years age bracket is largely in the urban districts. Mumbai has administered the highest number of booster doses (5.63lakh), followed by Pune (4.16lakh) and Thane (3.63lakh). In comparison, less than 10,000 people have taken the precautionary shot in Buldhana.
“There is a lot of awareness about the availability of free booster shots. But since the fear of the virus is gone, few find it necessary to take the third dose,” said a district official.
In tribal districts of Gadchiroli and Nandurbar, barely 12,660 and 18,051 people from 18-45 years have taken the third shot.
