Odisha seeks early rollout of Covid vaccine for 12-18 age group

By Express News Service
BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday requested the Centre to roll out vaccination for the 12-18 years age group as quickly as attainable owing to the attainable third wave of the Covid-19 hitting the nation as predicted by specialists.

Voicing issues over the anticipated third wave and its influence on youngsters, Patnaik throughout a digital assembly with Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned, “I would like to request that the vaccines for the age group of 12 to 18 years may be prioritised and rolled out at the earliest.”

Patnaik was among the many six Chief Ministers with whom the Prime Minister had an interplay over the Covid scenario. The different states are Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu. These six states account for greater than eighty p.c of the full instances through the month of July.

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Patnaik reiterated his demand for allocation of 95% vaccine to the State by decreasing the non-public hospital quota to five%. The lifting of the vaccines by non-public hospitals from the 25% quota has been much less as a consequence of their low presence within the state, he added.

Recalling the sooner communication with the central authorities on the difficulty, Patnaik mentioned, “We had written to the Centre to increase the allocation to the State government to 95% and reduce the allocation to private hospitals to 5%.” This will assist the State to extend the tempo of vaccination, he added.

The Chief Minister mentioned that Odisha has been performing very effectively in vaccination and the vaccine wastage within the State is among the many lowest within the nation.

While briefing the Prime Minister in regards to the progress of vaccination within the State, the Chief Minister spoke in regards to the measures which can be being taken to comprise the unfold of the virus and a attainable third wave within the state.

He additionally knowledgeable the PM in regards to the steps taken to spice up medical infrastructure and the measures taken to cope with the post-Covid points. This was in response to Prime Minister’s request to the states to fill the infrastructural gaps, particularly in rural areas.

The Prime Minister requested the Chief Ministers to expedite the completion of the PSA oxygen crops sanctioned from the PM-Care fund.