The Odisha government on Friday sought 25 lakh doses of vaccine from the Centre to make the vaccination festival against COVID-19 a grand success in the state.
In a letter to the additional secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Odisha's Additional Chief Secretary P K Mohapatra said: "You are requested to allocate at least 25 lakh doses of Covisheild to Odisha immediately, to make the 'Teeka Ustav' (vaccine festival) more successful in our state and also improve vaccination coverage in the entire state in the coming days."
Mohapatra in the letter said: "Covid vaccination in Odisha should be stepped up and we are prepared to undertake 3 lakh vaccinations daily".
"Unfortunately, due to the extremely low supply of vaccines to our state, we had to close down two-third of our vaccination centres. Several districts are now in a stock-out situation and are unable to continue the vaccination programme," Mohapatra mentioned in the letter.
Stating that the issue has been raised repeatedly with the Union Health Ministry earlier, Mohapatra said it remained "unaddressed."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his meeting with chief ministers on Thursday had called for a vaccination festival between April 11 and April 14.
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