Odisha wants vaccine allocation in 95:5 ratio b/w states and pvt hospitals

Seeking modification of the vaccination policy, the Odisha government has urged the Centre to allocate the Covid-19 vaccines in 95:5 proportion between the state government and private hospitals instead of 75:25 ratio.

Odisha's Heath and Family Welfare Minister N K Das in a letter to Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Saturday said that the vaccination activities will be "severely affected" if the Centre does not change its guidelines.

Earlier on June 14, Additional Chief Secretary, Health, P K Mohapatra had written a letter to Union Health secretary making a similar demand.

Das in the letter mentioned that the procurement by private hospitals in Odisha is very negligible.

As per the revised Central guidelines that came into effect from June 21 across the country, 25 per cent of monthly production of vaccines by domestic manufacturers, will be procured by private hospitals. However, till date, only seven private hospitals in Odisha have been able to procure vaccines from the manufacturers, Das said in his letter.

Noting that the presence of private hospitals is very low and limited to only about 5 per cent of the total healthcare sector in Odisha, Das said the state government apprehends that, as per the existing guideline, the state will lose out its proportionate share of 25 per cent allocation of vaccines to the private sectors.

Das urged Vardhan to revise the allocation of vaccines to Odisha at a ratio from 75:25 to 95:5 keeping in mind the ground reality. And, the share of the private sector may be handed over to the state government, he demanded.

"Since June 21, 2021, we are able to vaccinate more than 3 lakhs beneficiaries per day and will continue our endeavour to achieve 100 per cent vaccination in the state." Das mentioned in the letter.