BHUBANESWAR: Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik has urged chief ministers of all states and Union territories to arrive at a consensus over centralised procurement of global Covid-19 vaccines instead of the states competing against each other.
“This cannot be a battle among the states to compete against each other to procure vaccines,” the Odisha CM said in a letter written to all chief ministers.
Calling the Covid pandemic “perhaps the greatest challenge we have faced together as a nation after the Independence struggle,” Naveen Patnaik urged leaders to set aside all differences, political or otherwise, to save precious lives and hard-earned livelihoods.
Earlier, Kerala chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren had also advocated centralised procurement and free administering of Covid vaccines.
The Odisha CM’s appeal comes on a day when the Supreme Court pulled up the Centre over its paid vaccination policy for the 18-44 years age group, calling it “arbitrary”.
The top court has also asked all states and Union territories to specify their stand on providing free vaccination within 2 weeks.
The crucial third phase vaccination has been disrupted in several states due to the shortage of vaccines.
Some states tried to procure vaccine directly, but failed to do so.
The Odisha CM said he has spoken to some chief ministers in this regard and has also written to the Union government on the issue.
The Odisha CM urged the chief ministers to act fast before any third wave comes and creates further havoc.
In his letter, Patnaik cites the multiple waves of infection faced by other countries and warns that India, which has already seen two waves, may not be an exception.
“Especially, after the second wave, people are very scared about future waves and variants.
Every citizen in India has been affected by this pandemic in one way or the other.
It could be losing a loved one or losing a job or loss in business or just the mental trauma because of the present situation.
None have been spared by this pandemic”, Patnaik writes.
The Odisha CM says vaccination is the only way to protect our people against future waves and provide them with a hope of survival.
“Countries which have focused on vaccination program have seen remarkable improvement in their Covid situation.
We have to provide this healing touch to our people,” he said, adding, “no state is safe unless all the states adopt vaccination as the top most priority and execute it on war-footing.” After the Union government announced the Phase 3 of the vaccine policy and allowed vaccination for above 18 years and opened procurement to state governments and private sector, there has been great demand for vaccination from the citizens, informed the Biju Janata Dal chief.
“Many states have floated global tenders for vaccine procurement.
However, it is quite clear that the global vaccine manufacturers are looking forward to the Union government for the clearances and assurances,” he wrote.
The Odisha chief minister said, “They are unwilling to get into supply contracts with the State governments.
While the domestic vaccine manufacturers are having supply constraints and are not able to commit required supplies.” Under the above circumstances, Patnaik believed that the best option available is for the Government of India to centrally procure the vaccines and distribute it among the States so that citizens are vaccinated at the earliest.
At the same time, the Odisha CM said that the execution of the vaccination programme has to be decentralised and the states be allowed the flexibility to determine their own mechanisms to ensure universal vaccination.
“For example, many hilly areas cannot access the Internet and therefore online registration has to be flexible, some vulnerable tribes can be given priority by the State, etc”, he said.
Union minister of information and broadcasting Prakash Javadekar had on May 28 said that India will vaccinate all its people against Covid-19 by December 2021.
(With inputs from ANI)