Odisha demands 2.5 mn Covid-19 vaccine doses in single lot from Centre

The Odisha government on

Thursday demanded at least 25 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccine in a single lot from the Centre as it is unable to expedite the ongoing immunisation programme, a minister said.

Health and Family Welfare Minister N K Das, in a letter to the central government, said the state is prepared to administer 3 lakh doses daily, but about 2-3 lakh vaccine shots are being allocated to it at a time.

Das had earlier written two more letters to the Union Health Ministry, requesting the authorities to expedite the supply of vaccines.

"I again request you to urgently supply at least 10 days of stock of Covishield (25 lakh doses) in a single lot as an emergency measure to enable us to plan sessions and undertake the vaccination programme effectively," the minister said in his latest communication.

Das also said the state has received 50,79,650 doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of April 14.

Due to the "intermittent" supply of COVID vaccines, the sessions for immunisation "cannot be conducted as planned", he said.

The government on Thursday administered 1,54,330 doses to beneficiaries in 1,050 session sites across the state, an official said.

The state is likely to receive another consignment of 3 lakh doses of vaccines on Friday, he said.