Maharashtra was initially the worst COVID-hit state in India, Mumbai the financial commercial capital of India with huge gateways to international travel and Maharashtra the second most populous state in India and it was a big battle to get to a plateau of victory which the state is arriving at.
Cases peaked up to 50,000 reported daily in the last two weeks and it appeared that Maharashtra was fighting a losing battle, but with sheer grit, hard work, and imposing big lockdowns, restricting temple visits and other public gatherings, with their diligence, the daily COVID caseload dropped down.
The Shiv Sena calls Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray a “Covidologist” and the family doctor of Maharashtra because he is so caring and says he is probably the only chief minister to do a study on COVID. Presently, CM Uddhav Thackeray is seeking to import millions of COVID-19 vaccines from other countries since India has run out of vaccines and funds will be diverted from all the departments to carry out a far-reaching inoculation drive on the lines of the UK, the state government said on Tuesday.
The Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope said the state cabinet on Tuesday decided to carry out an “exemplary vaccination drive”. “If required, we will cut the funds of all the other departments to ensure availability of vaccines for people,” he said after a cabinet meeting.
Tope had earlier said the state wanted to vaccinate seven lakh, persons, every day but constraints imposed by the Centre and supply constraints made it possible to vaccinate only about three lakh. The state would like to follow the example of the United Kingdom which had witnessed a severe spike in COVID-19 cases last year, he said.
“Today, 60 per cent of UK’s population is vaccinated. Very few new cases are being detected, while the death toll is in single digits. The entire country was kept under lockdown for three months and the vaccination drive was carried out on a massive scale,” he said.
“We have decided to cut the expenses of all the departments and divert the funds for vaccine procurement. We will not limit our plans only to the two vaccines that are manufactured in the country (Covishield and Covaxin) ,” he said.
The minister said that the state government will bid for vaccines made abroad such as Sputnik-V, Pfizer and Moderna if they are available. “The state’s vaccination drive will cover people in the age group of 18 to 45, while people above 45 will be covered under the Centre’s drive for which doses will be supplied by the Centre,” he said.
Tope said that the cabinet also asked the state chief secretary and principal secretaries of finance, health and medical education departments to promote the procurement of medical equipment to tackle the pandemic. Meanwhile, the number of daily coronavirus positive cases in Maharashtra dropped below the 40,000 mark to 37,236 on Monday for the first time since March 31.
When Uddhav Thackeray implemented lockdowns especially restricting worship in mega crowds, he was severely criticized, but today, that decision is bearing its fruit.
Uddhav Thackeray is now attaining the admiration of even his critics with his serene personality, dedication, caring nature and tough decisions which he implemented and the COVID storm is slowly calming down.