State Health Minister Naba Kishore Das on Saturday urged Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan to ensure converting the vaccine procurement ratio between State Government and private hospitals from present 75:25 to 95:05 so that it can benefit Odsiha, which has started vaccinating as many as three lakh people daily from June 21.
Das referred to the State Additional Chief Secretary (Health)’s recent letter to the Union Health Secretary on June 14 in this regard.
The Union Government earlier in the month has decided that private hospitals can purchase 25 per cent of the vaccines directly from the manufacturers and the remaining 75 per cent would be procured by the State Governments.
According to official sources, in Odisha only seven hospitals are purchasing vaccines from manufacturers and they constitute less than 5 per cent of the State’s health sector. Therefore, if the private hospitals procure 25 per cent of the vaccines, the State Government would lose its legitimate share.