Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday sought 95 per cent of the vaccine allocation to the State for its Government hospitals. In a videoconferencing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other State Chief Ministers, Patnaik raised the issue of vaccination in Odisha.
Patnaik said Odisha has been performing very well in the vaccination drive and the State’s wastage is among the lowest in the country.However, he said, due to low presence of private hospitals in the State, the lifting of the vaccines from the 25% quota has been less. Referring to an earlier communication with the Centre on the issue, he said, “We had written to the Government of India to increase the allocation to the State Government to 95% and reduce the allocation to private hospitals to 5%.
This will help us in increasing the pace of vaccination in the State.” Voicing concerns over the anticipated third wave of the pandemic and its impact on children. Patnaik said, “I would like to request that the vaccines for the age group 12-18 years may be prioritised and rolled out at the earliest.”