BHUBANESWAR: A day after the Centre opened vaccination for all citizens above 18 years, four states have already announced to bear the expenses of Covid vaccine for their residents, aged between 18 and 44 years as the vaccination is free for people of 45 years and above.
Will Odisha also follow suit? Given the demographic condition of the State and around 32 per cent of the population below poverty line, people from different sections have demanded the State government to take a judicious decision as spending Rs 1,500 per person for vaccine may not be possible for many.
According to an estimate, Odisha has a population of 1.93 crore that belong to the 18 to 44 years category. While 1.16 crore above 45 years are undergoing vaccination as per the Central government vaccine protocol under which the Centre is bearing the cost of vaccine, the latter has allowed vaccine manufacturers to provide 50 per cent of their production to the open market.
Since Odisha was among the states that demanded vaccine to be available in the open market, many are of the opinion that the government should also consider announcing vaccination free of cost. As announced by the Serum Institute, Covishield will be available at Rs 400 per dose to state governments.
If the State procures Covishield it would have to make a provision of Rs 800 crore to Rs 1000 crore considering its share from the Centre. The budget may come down if Covaxin (whose price is expected to be lower than Covishield) is opted and it can be met from the DMF fund. While the government is yet to announce whether it would bear the expense, former Finance Minister Panchanan Kanungo suggested that the State should give the vaccine free at the public health facilities during the Phase 3, as it was in Phase 1 and Phase 2.
“Those who can afford the cost may take the vaccine available at the private health facilities. People unable to bear the cost can take the jab at government facilities. I think such an arrangement would lessen the financial burden on the State government,” he said.
Public health experts, however, demanded for a flexible vaccine policy that would be based on equity, transparency and quality. Additional Professor at Bhubaneswar-based Indian Institute of Public Health Bhuputra Panda said vaccine should be made available to all irrespective of income level and poor people should not feel left out in their fight against the coronavirus. “Transparency with respect to cost should be ensured so that gullible people will not be charged extra. This apart, quality in terms of adverse event following immunisation should also be ensured,” he said.
A senior official said the government will soon come up with a strategy. “The State will get its share from the Centre’s 50 pc vaccine from manufacturers. But in order to make the vaccination drive faster we may have to go for direct procurement. The government is considering various options and the Chief Minister will make an announcement soon,” he said.
Doctors warned of action for not joining duty
The government has warned the doctors, who have not yet joined duty assigned to them in districts for management of Covid-19, of disciplinary action. In an order, Health department said a number of doctors temporarily posted for management of Covid in districts are not joining at their place of deployment putting hardship on the part of administrations in their fight against the pandemic.