Bhubaneswar: Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi has lauded Odisha for a global tender for procuring the vaccine to inoculate the state’s entire population.
The Congress leader took to Twitter to voice his opinion on the same.
#Odisha initiates global tender 2get vaccines for all. Something which central #Govt shd have done in oct 2020 instead of exporting vaccines as #vaccinemaitri to bcome #vishvaguru! Now states with limited resources left by Centre 2own devices! And the devil takes the hindmost!
— Abhishek Singhvi (@DrAMSinghvi) May 11, 2021
“The central government was supposed to do this in October 2020,” he said. Instead, the central government exported vaccines.
Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the Odisha government’s move to vaccinate everyone was commendable.
Odisha decided to float global tenders to procure vaccines for international manufacturers and asked the Centre to exempt imported vaccines from all tax liabilities to reduce the burden on its finances. The move came at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Odisha is seeking to import vaccines to vaccinate its people in the 18-44 age group. Currently, the state is getting Covishield and Covaxin vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech respectively.
