Mumbai: Maharashtra Tourism and Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray on Sunday posted on social media that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government will not charge any of its resident in the state for the Covid-19 vaccine.
“The government of Maharashtra has decided to vaccinate its citizens free of cost. This is not something that we think of as a choice, but a duty that we consider of utmost importance: protecting the citizens from COVID,” he tweeted.
Aaditya, however, deleted the tweet minutes after sharing the post on the micro-blogging platform and shared another post stating that he does not want to create any unnecessary confusion regarding Maharashtra’s “official vaccination policy”.
READ | ‘Ensure Use Of Liquid Oxygen Is Not Allowed For Any Non-Medical Purpose’: Centre Asks States, UTs
“I have deleted the earlier tweet as to not cause confusion regarding the official vaccination policy of Maharashtra that would be fully ensuring fast, efficient vaccination and would leave nobody behind,” he wrote.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I have deleted the earlier tweet as to not cause confusion regarding the official vaccination policy of Maharashtra that would be fully ensuring fast, efficient vaccination and would leave nobody behind.</p>— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) <a href="https://news.abplive.com/health/india-gears-up-for-next-phase-of-covid-vaccination-covaxin-covishield-prices-announced-1454648">April 25, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Maharashtra Tourism and Environment Minister also apologized for his gaffe.
“The official policy of vaccination will be declared by the empowered committee and we must await it’s recommendation for a fair policy for all sections of society. My apologies for the confusion if it all it may have caused,” he tweeted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The official policy of vaccination will be declared by the empowered committee and we must await it’s recommendation for a fair policy for all sections of society. My apologies for the confusion if it all it may have caused.</p>— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) <a >April 25, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
This came as Maharashtra Minority Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik earlier in the day said the state government will vaccinate the population above 18 years of age free of cost and added global tenders will be floated to purchase affordable and quality vaccine.
“It is clear that the Centre will not provide vaccination for the people below the age of 45 years, which will be done by states,” he added.
READ | Prices Of Covaxin, Covishield Announced As India Gears Up For Smooth Covid Vaccination From May 1
From May 1, Phase 3 of India's vaccination campaign will be initiated wherein people above 18 years of age will be eligible to take the Covid vaccine shots.
Maharashtra, which is the worst affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, continues to report a surge in the daily cases.
Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 67,160 followed by Uttar Pradesh with 37,944 while Karnataka reported 29,438 new cases.