Shiv Sena MP demands vaccine for above 18 in Maharashtra

New Delhi/Mumbai: As Maharashtra's Covid-19 cases rose again to about 50,000 a day for the second time in three days, with the total tally crossing 31 lakh, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi has demanded vaccination for those above 18 years of age. She has written a letter to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan in this regard.

In her letter, she said that the government should make vaccine accessible to all above 18 years. "I urge you to review this stance of the ministry and make the vaccine universally available to those below the age of 45 at least to the age of 18 so that they can be vaccinated and resume working safely," Chaturvedi wrote in the letter.

The letter comes in the wake of the state government saying it was facing a shortage of vaccines even though the state became the first in India to surpass the 80 lakh vaccination mark.

Infections in the state shot up from 47,288 on Monday to 55,469 taking the state tally to 31,13,354. The state fatalities also shot up from 155 a day earlier to 297, as the toll rose to 56,330.

The recovery rate plummeted again from 83.36 per cent on Monday to 82.98 per cent, while the death rate worsened from 1.83 per cent a day earlier to 1.81 per cent, and the number of active cases jumped up to 472,283.

For the second time in three days, the country's commercial capital recorded a five-digit case tally. After notching 11,206 (April 4), the infections in Mumbai increased from 9,879 a day earlier to 10,040, taking the city's tally to 472,600. There were 32 more deaths, increasing the total fatalities to 11,832.

The Mumbai circle -- comprising Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts -- notched its second-highest figure of new infections since 19,942 recorded on Sunday, at 18,594, taking the total to 991,046, and deaths to 20,737.