Bhubaneswar: In a move to ensure undisrupted vaccination, the state cabinet Monday decided to float a global tender for procurement of Covid-19 vaccines.
The state cabinet headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik took the decision and allowed the health department to take necessary steps for the procurement of vaccines so that all people of the state are vaccinated.
The cabinet’s move came in the wake of poor supply of vaccines to the state by the Centre and two Indian manufacturers—Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India (SII). Despite repeated attempts, neither the Union government nor the private manufacturers are able to supply sufficient amounts of vaccines to Odisha. As a result, the vaccination programme was hit hard in the state.
“The state cabinet has approved to issue a global tender for procurement of Covid vaccines from different major companies in order to expedite the vaccination programme in the state,” Chief Secretary SC Mahapatra said after the meeting.
He said the cabinet has appreciated the sincerity and dedication of Covid warriors in fighting against Covid-19. The panel further expressed its gratitude to the people of the state for their cooperation in the execution of various measures such as testing, tracing, vaccination and lockdown.
Vaccination is the most important step to protect people from Covid infections and save precious lives, he said, adding, “Countries like Israel, which have already vaccinated a large part of its population, are now returning to normalcy.”
Moreover, vaccination has been shown to be very effective in reducing the complications of the disease and reducing the life risk of patients. Though people who have been vaccinated have been infected with the virus, they got very mild symptoms, Mahapatra said.
Therefore, he said, the state government is committed to making every effort to ensure vaccination of the people of Odisha, smooth supply of vaccines, the safety of people of the state and restore normalcy in the state as soon as possible.
To this end, steps will be taken to procure vaccines from various major vaccination firms in the world so that people of Odisha can be vaccinated and precious lives will be saved, he pointed out.
Early vaccination will not only save lives but also will help in the restoration of people’s livelihoods. A technical committee will be set up to look into the matter, the Chief Secretary stated.