Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: Odisha Health Minister Naba Das put forth a demand of 25 Lakh doses of COVID vaccines before the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan while discussing the vaccination drive in the State on Wednesday.
“Odisha needs 25 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccine as 22 lakh people are awaiting the 2nd dose of vaccine,” Das said.
Other than the vaccines, Das demanded oxygen cylinders, Rapid Antigen Test kits, PPE kits and masks. “We have enough oxygen but not cylinders and hence, we need 30,000 cylinders,” he said.
After the virtual meeting, Das said that the Union health Minister assured him to take Odisha’s demand seriously.
Harsh Vardhan today held a meeting with health Ministers of seven States and one Union Territory and reviewed the progress of the COVID-19 vaccination drive. These States included Uttarakhand, Haryana, Punjab, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Telangana along with the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. During the meeting, he discussed the steps to accelerate the vaccination drive.
Speaking on the occasion, he said the country has administered more than 17.52 crore COVID vaccine doses to the beneficiaries so far. He asked States and Union Territories to ensure that all beneficiaries who have already taken the first dose are prioritised for the second doses.