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Maharashtra on Monday started administering the precaution dose of COVID-19 vaccine to frontline and healthcare workers as well as co-morbid people aged 60 and above, with the state administering 91,648 doses till noon.
Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said a total of 13,91,98,359 vaccine doses had been administered so far, which was the second-highest after Uttar Pradesh.
“The state has administered 91,648 doses so far,” Tope tweeted as the precaution dose is being administered to eligible people.
The vaccination drive for the 15-18 age group had started on January 3 and, as of Sunday, 17,78,427 doses had been administered in this segment.
As per state government data, a total of 11,73,278 second doses have been provided to health care workers, followed by 19,65,985 to frontline workers.
It said 2,97,62,262 doses have been given in the 18-44 age group, while 2,31,04,370 doses have been administered to the 45 plus segment.
According to guidelines issued by the Union Health Ministry, the gap between the date of administering the second dose of vaccine and the precaution dose would be nine months (39 weeks).
Online appointments for precaution dose began on the CoWin portal on Saturday evening. However, there is also the option of an onsite appointment and it will start on January 10.
According to the Health Ministry, private hospitals that function as COVID-19 Vaccination Centres can inoculate their eligible staff members.
Those aged 60 years and above with comorbidities will not be required to produce or submit any certificate from a doctor at the time of administration of the precautionary dose of vaccine.
A day earlier, Maharashtra had reported 44,388 new COVID-19 cases and 12 fatalities, taking the tally of infections to 69,20,044 and the death toll to 1,41,639, as per the state health department.
The state on Sunday added 207 fresh cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, taking the number of such patients to 1,216.
