Thackeray seeks 'national vaccine distribution policy'

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday urged the Centre to formulate a 'national vaccine distribution policy' to combat the Covid-19 pandemic more systematically.

He said that this could include the movement of citizens between states, determining the containment areas and other related aspects to fight the pandemic effectively.

"Today, the cases have increased in Delhi or Kerala, tomorrow it can go up in some other state. The Prime Minister or Home Minister should convene a meeting of all political parties and explain to them the gravity of the situation, plus instruct all to cooperate without resorting to politics," Thackeray said.

As far as Maharashtra is concerned, the CM said that state government has set up a task force for the distribution of the much-awaited Covid-19 vaccine to deal with the pandemic situation.

"We have set up a task force for the vaccination programme. The state government is in regular touch with the Serum Institute of India and is keeping track of the vaccine development," Thackeray said at a meeting of CMs of eight states with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He pointed out that the state government is bringing public life back to normal as per the directives of the Centre and implementing the precautionary measures.

However, Thackeray rued that some political parties are playing politics with the lives of the people, taking to the streets and attempting to violate the health rules, so they must be directed to refrain from doing so.

On the progress achieved by the state, he said that barely three months ago, the state had 24,000 patients daily which has now come down to around 5,000 a day.

"Despite the declining number of patients, we have asked the people to remain vigilant and practice all precautions like physical distancing, wearing face masks, cleanliness, etc. But if some political parties continue their politicking, then all our efforts may fail and we may invite a fresh corona wave," Thackeray pointed out.

In this context, he said the state's flagship initiative, "My Family, My Responsibility" campaign has worked very well, it has covered around 11.92 crore population and succeeded in reducing the infection rate, besides creating a 'health map' of the state.

Through the initiative, 3.50 lakh people suffering various diseases and helped to detect and treat around 51,000 Covid patients, Thackeray said.