Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Government has sought guidance from the Centre for re-commencing of COVID-19 precaution dose vaccination of left-out citizens aged 18 years & above in the state.
Odisha Health & Family Welfare Department Commissioner-cum-Secretary Smt. Shalini Pandit, on Friday, wrote a letter to the Secretary, Govt. of India, Ministry of Health seeking guidance for re-commencing of COVID-19 precaution dose vaccination of left out citizens aged 18 years & above in the State.
In the letter, she mentioned that to date, 8.14 Crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the State. Of this, 3.52 Crore (97%) doses have been administered as the first dose and 3.30 Crore (91%) doses as the second dose to beneficiaries aged 12 years 86 above and 1.31 Crore (41%) doses administered as precautionary doses to citizens aged 18 years 86 above in the State.
“It is pertinent to mention here that all COVID-19 vaccines supplied from Govt. of India have been completely utilised by 28th November 2022 and presently, there is no stock of vaccine in the State,” the letter reads adding, “Now, there is demand from citizens for precaution dose vaccination as there is a surge of COVID-19 cases in countries like Japan, USA, Republic of Korea, Brazil & China.”
Further, out of 3.25 Crore citizens aged 18 years 86 and above eligible for precautionary dose, only 1.31 Crore citizens have been vaccinated with precautionary dose i.e. still 1.93 Crore (59%) citizens are yet to be vaccinated with precautionary dose in the State, it further added.
The State government has requested the Centre to provide necessary guidance and support for re-commencing precaution dose vaccination of left out citizens in Govt. COVID-19 Vaccination Centers (CVCs).
