Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik on Monday said out of the 21 people detected with the Delta plus variant of coronavirus so far in the state, only one had taken the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
The Minority Affairs Minister said Maharashtra can vaccinate its entire eligible population in two months if it had adequate stock of COVID-19 vaccines.
Mr Malik said available data shows vaccines reduce the risk of the coronavirus infection.
"If Maharashtra gets adequate stock of vaccine doses, the state can vaccinate its entire population in two months," he said.
The new coronavirus variant, considered highly infectious, had been detected in 21 people spread across seven districts so far.
Only one of them had been administered with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, Mr Malik said.
Last Friday, the first death due to Delta plus variant in Maharashtra was detected in Ratnagiri district, where a 80-year-old woman with comorbidities succumbed to the infection.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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