Less than 50 lakh people above 18 years in Maharashtra have taken the Covid-19 booster vaccination, but the fresh outbreak in China and other nations has slightly pushed up the demand for precaution doses, Maharashtra health department officials said. State immunization officer Dr Sachin Desai said on average around 10,000 doses are being administered daily now.
Over four crore people in the 18-44 age group have got both shots of the Covid-19 vaccine in the state since vaccination commenced in January 2020, according to Maharashtra health department data. In the 18-44 age group, around 30 lakh people have taken the precaution dose while over 15 lakh have taken the booster shot till January 2 this year in the 45-59 age group.
At least 1.4 crore people are due for the booster shot in the 45-59 age group, while 3.3 crore are yet to take the booster shot in the 18-44 age group. According to the data, at least 30 per cent of the population in the age group 60 and above have taken their booster doses. Of the target one crore population in this age group, around 30.86 lakh have got their precaution doses.
Till date, Maharashtra has reported 81.36 lakh cases of Covid and 1.48 lakh Covid deaths. India has reported 4.47 crore Covid infections and 5.31 lakh deaths. Data from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as on January 5 this year shows that 220.12 crore total vaccine doses (95.13 crore second dose and 22.42 crore precaution dose) have been administered so far under the Nationwide Vaccination Drive
According to the latest update from the World Health Organization, as of January 1, 2023, over 656 million confirmed cases and over 6.6 million deaths have been reported globally. Outside of China, one of the Omicron sub-variants originally detected in October 2022 is XBB.1.5, a recombinant of two BA.2 sub-lineages. According to the WHO statement, it is on the increase in the US and Europe and has now been identified in more than 25 countries.
