Mumbai: Maharashtra has been the worst-hit state in the country by Covid-19. It has been reporting over 60,000 daily infections over the last few days. Earlier this week, the government announced that everyone above 18 years of age will be inoculated from May 1 as the country sees an exponential rise in Covid infections.

The Maharashtra government will float a global tender for Covid-19 vaccines and Remdesivir injections, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said. As the Union government has allowed vaccination of people in the age group of 18 to 45, the state will start an inoculation drive for this category from May 1, he said.

Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on Sunday noon announced that the state will vaccinate all its citizens for free of cost. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has discussed vaccine availability with Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the Serum Institute of India, the maker of the Covishield vaccine, Pawar said. Poonawalla expressed an inability to meet the state’s full requirement, he claimed.