46% of 7 lakh plus booster jabs in Maharashtra given to senior citizens

MUMBAI: More senior citizens have taken the booster shot in the state than healthcare and frontline workers.

Maharashtra has administered a total of 7.27 lakh precautionary doses since January 10. According to the state data, 3.37 lakh (46%) precautionary doses have been administered to people above 60 years.

In comparison, a little over 2.08 lakh (28.7%) doses have been received by healthcare workers and 1.81 lakh (25%) by frontline workers.

As expected, cities are leading the charts when it comes to administering the precautionary doses to seniors. Mumbai has given booster shots to 89,593 people above 60 years, Pune to 68,571 and Thane to 40,748. In some of the less developed districts, Gadchiroli and Hingoli for instance, less than 1,000 senior citizens have taken the third dose.

Dr Sachin Desai, state’s immunization officer, said there is better awareness and demand for boosters among the bigger centres. Also, there is the question of eligibility as only those who have completed nine months since their second shot can take the precautionary dose.

Intensivist Dr Rakesh Bhadade insisted that essential workers should take the booster shot without any second thoughts.

“There is little doubt that the vaccination cover helped blunt the impact of the third wave to a great extent,” he added.

State officials said that many essential workers who have got infected in the third wave won’t be able to take the precautionary shot immediately.

The Centre has issued a guideline stating that people who have got infected recently can take the vaccine shot after 90 days.