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Bhubaneswar: At a time when Odisha is running out of Covid-19 vaccines, CM Naveen Patnaik’s letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging the latter to make vaccines available in the local market has drawn mixed response from the Opposition parties.
While the BJP advocated for the Centre and State to work together as a team to face Covid crisis rather than slinging mud at each other, Congress asked Patnaik to personally speak to Modi over phone to press his demands for ensuring vaccine supply.
“We have handled the first phase very efficiently and now the second wave has emerged as a challenge before us. We need to keep vaccines, oxygen stock, hospitals and ventilators ready as the situation is very alarming. At this crucial juncture, the State and the Central government should set an example of cooperative federalism and work together to battle the pandemic. No blame game should is called for,” said Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi.
“How many letters should CM Naveen will write? He should speak to the PM over phone. CM or Chief Secretary should directly intervene in the matter, then only we will get the vaccine,” said Congress leader Sura Routray.
Reacting on the development, BJD vice president Debi Prasad Mishra said, “Rising above politics, we hope PM Modi will fulfil our demands on vaccine supply.”
Earlier in the day, CM Naveen dashed a letter to Modi requesting the Prime Minister to scale up vaccination drive across the country. In the letter, Patnaik had also raised the issue of intermittent supply of Covid-19 vaccine which is creating a challenge in meeting the demands in the State.
It is pertinent to mention here that Patnaik had earlier placed a demand of 25 lakh vaccine doses before the Centre so as to administer 3 lakh doses to people every day in the State.
Odisha, till date, has administered about 47 lakh COVID vaccine doses to healthcare workers, frontline workers and persons above 45 years. In his letter, Patnaik claimed that Odisha has one of the lowest rates of wastage in the country and it has the capacity to administer more than 3 lakh doses every day.
