Odisha's allegation of discrimination in vaccine supply "not tenable" Centre

    Bhubaneswar, Mar 27 (PTI) Terming Odisha government's
allegation of "discretion and erratic" supply of COVID-19
vaccines to the state as "not tenable", the Centre on Saturday
said that vaccine stocks will not be a limiting factor for
acceleration of the pace of vaccination in the state.
    Union Health Secretary, Rajesh Bhusan in a letter to
Odisha's Additional Chief Secretary, Health Department, P K
Mohapatra said: "You would agree that the argument of
discretion and erratic supply of vaccines as made in your
letter is not tenable."
    "I would like to reassure you again that vaccine
stocks will not be a limiting factor for acceleration of the
pace of vaccination in Odisha and adequate quantities of
vaccines will be provided to the state based on continuous
review of available stocks and pace of vaccination," Buhusan
wrote to Mohapatra.
    The Odisha government on Friday had raised questions
on the "insufficient and erratic" supply of vaccines to the
state and urged the Centre not to discriminate states while
supplying the vaccines.
    Bhushan in his letter mentioned that as on March 27,
2021, a total of 34,46,760 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were
supplied to Odisha, out of which a total of 21,67,956 eligible
beneficiaries have been vaccinated which translates to
consumption of about 22,97,431 doses resulting in a balance of
11,49,329 doses available with the state.
    A total of 2,07,229 beneficiaries have been vaccinated
in the last three days resulting in a daily average
vaccination rate of 69,076 beneficiaries, Bhushan said.
    He also stated that the Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare (MoHFW) has been constantly reviewing daily and
allocating vaccines based on the progress of vaccination in
all states and UTs including Odisha.
    The MoHFW has already allocated an additional supply
of 5,48,250 doses, which will reach Odisha on March 28, 2021,
he informed.
    Meanwhile, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister
Dharmendra Pradhan in a series of tweets said that he had
taken up the Odisha government's concern with his counterpart
in the Health and Family Welfare Ministry who has assured him
(Pradhan) that there is no dearth in availability of doses of
COVID-19 vaccines to states.
    "There will be no shortage of vaccines in Odisha or
anywhere in the country," Pradhan said in a twitter post.
    In his letter to Bhushan on Friday, Mohapatra had
urged the Centre to supply at least 15 days vaccine
requirement in advance to Odisha for uninterrupted inoculation
drive. The state had set a target to administer jabs to 2 lakh
people per day. PTI AAM
RG RG

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)