Covid: Odisha urges Centre to supply 15 days vaccine requirement in advance

The Odisha government on Friday requested the Central government to supply COVID-19 vaccines for at least 15 days in advance to the state in order to continue the uninterrupted inoculation drive.

In a letter to the Union Health Ministry, State health secretary PK Mohapatra mentioned that other states were receiving up to 3 lakh vaccinations daily and urged the Centre not to discriminate between states.

"We are unable to plan vaccination sessions for even 15 days in advance due to insufficient vaccine supply to our state, is seen that other states are achieving up to 3 lakhs vaccinations daily due to adequate vaccine supply. It is requested that there should not be any discrimination between states in the supply of vaccines," Mohapatra said in the letter.

He further informed that Odisha has already administered more than 20 lakh doses of vaccine to Health Care Workers, Front line Workers and age-appropriate group of citizens.

"Keeping in view the heatwave conditions in our state, which will worsen over the coming months, we are planning to accelerate our vaccination drive so as to vaccinate at least 2 lakh citizens daily and complete the target before the weather becomes more severe. Hence, you are requested to supply at least 15 days vaccine requirement in advance to our state for uninterrupted vaccination drive," the letter read.

There are currently 1,132 active COVID-19 cases in Odisha. As many as 3,36,409 recoveries and 1,919 deaths have been reported so far.