COVID-19 vaccination drive in Maharashtra’s Panvel faced a
temporary halt on Thursday, as all public and private centres were affected by
the unavailability of vaccines, reported news agency ANI, referring to the Panvel
Municipal Corporation.

“Vaccination drive temporarily halted in all government and
private inoculation centres in Panvel, due to unavailability of #COVID19
vaccines. Centres will be reopened once vaccines are back in stock”, ANI quoted
Panvel Municipal Corporation as saying.

Also read: Maharashtra records 59,907 COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, hits new daily high

On Wednesday, the state recorded its all-time high single
day infection figure, recording a total of 59,907 COVID-19 cases in a span of
24 hours.

Earlier on Wednesday, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh
Tope had brought the issue into forefront, saying the state had a total of 14 lakh
vaccines at hand which would run out in a day or two.

Also read: BMC allows home delivery of food, essentials 24×7 during curbs

Tope, in turn, faced retaliation from Union Health Minister
Dr Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday who blamed the “inability of the Maharashtra government
to act responsibly”, as per PTI, for the sharp increase in cases in the state.

Since India kicked off its vaccination drive on January 16, Maharashtra
has so far been able to administer the first vaccine shot to nearly 82 lakh
persons

The Maharashtra government imposed night-time curfews on
Monday, which would continue till April 30.