BHUBANESWAR: Odisha government has once again raised the pitch for increasing state’s quota of vaccine by revising the allotment to private hospitals, which have so far not shown much enthusiasm to accelerate the inoculation drive.
As only seven private hospitals have so far expressed their willingness for conducting Covid vaccination, Health Minister Naba Kishore Das on Saturday urged the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to divert the vaccines allocated to them to State quota.
In a letter to Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, Das stated, “The presence of private hospitals in the State is unlike other states and the vaccine requirement is limited to only about five per cent. In this context, the government and private vaccine allocation ratio of 75:25 needs to be revised to 95:5 keeping in mind the ground reality and the share of private sector be provided to public hospitals.”
Das said the government has ramped up its vaccination drive with average inoculation of around three lakh doses daily for the last five days.
The State administered 3.32 lakh and 3.24 lakh doses of Covid vaccines to beneficiaries on June 21 and 23 respectively. If adequate doses are provided, the State can cross 90 lakh vaccinations a month, he added.
The State has been promised 40.67 lakh doses for inoculation in July.