Odisha govt requests Centre for bigger pie of Covid vaccine allocated to State

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has sought the Centre’s approval for a larger share of Covid vaccine from the manufacturers.

In a letter to the Secretary of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Additional Chief Secretary of Health and Family Welfare Department, PK Mohapatra today sought an increase in the Odisha government’s share for Covid vaccine to 95% and allocation of 5% vaccine to private hospitals in the State.

Citing the poor presence of private hospitals in the health care sector in Odisha, Mohapatra requested to make the ratio of vaccine allocation between the State government and private hospitals to 95:5 instead of 75:25.

Worth mentioning, the Ministry of Health and Family issued the revised guidelines for implementation of Covid vaccination programme on June 8, 2021. The same will come into effect from June 21, 2021 across the country.

As per the guidelines, 25% of monthly production of vaccines by domestic manufacturers can be directly procured by private hospitals.

The letter stated, however, only four private hospitals in Odisha have so far been able to procure vaccines directly from the manufacturers.

Also, the letter mentioned that the share of the vaccine for private health care sector may be handed over to the State government for subsequent mobilization and allocation to private hospitals.