No dearth of COVID-19 vaccine doses in Odisha says Dharmendra

Bhubaneshwar: Days after the Odisha government raised concern over shortage of Covid-19 vaccine doses in the state, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan assured on Saturday that there was no dearth of jabs in the state.

“I spoke to my senior cabinet colleague Dr Harsh Vardhan regarding panic being created by the Odisha government regarding availability of COVID-19 vaccines in Odisha. He assured me that there is no dearth of availability of doses of the vaccines,” Pradhan said.

The Odisha government on Friday had requested the Central government to supply COVID-19 vaccines for at least 15 days in advance to the state in order to continue the uninterrupted inoculation drive.

In a letter to the Union Health Ministry, State health secretary PK Mohapatra had mentioned that other states were receiving up to 3 lakh vaccinations daily and urged the Centre not to discriminate between states.

“We are unable to plan vaccination sessions for even 15 days in advance due to insufficient vaccine supply to our state, is seen that other states are achieving up to 3 lakhs vaccinations daily due to adequate vaccine supply. It is requested that there should not be any discrimination between states in the supply of vaccines,” Mohapatra had said in the letter.