Mumbai: As Maharashtra preps up for COVID vaccine drive, Health Minister Rajesh Tope has cleared that the covishield vaccine will not be administered to minors, pregnant women and those with any allergies.

Rajesh Tope while talking to mediapersons said, “We have decided to give the full two-doses to the selected persons, the first dose now and the second after 4-6 weeks. However, those below 18 years, pregnant women or people with allergies shall not be administered the vaccine.” Maharashtra has received 963,000 doses of the expected 17,50,000 - which is around 55 per cent of the state government's quota from the manufacturers Serum Institute of India (SII), Pune, he added.

Since Tuesday, these vaccine doses are being dispatched around the state, including the main depots in Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Kolhapur, Nashik, Akola, Nagpur and other places for onward distribution to the 511 designated vaccination centres.

Of these 511 centres, the maximum - 129 - have been allotted to the thickly-populated Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) while 55 are reserved for Pune.

The worst-hit in the country by the Covid-19 pandemic with the maximum 11,200 deaths so far, the country's commercial capital has got the lion's share of 72 vaccination centres in the state. The first lot of the 'Covishield' vaccine for Covid-19 reached Mumbai early on Wednesday morning, BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner IS Chahal said.

Earlier this morning, the civic staff at the BMC F /South Division office welcomed the life-saving vaccine with cheers, claps, garlands and 'poojas'. Then, it was taken for storage in the temperature-controlled vaccine strong room on the ground floor, as per the prescribed Centre and state government protocols.

(With inputs from IANS)