Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Government has decided to float a global tender for procuring COVID-19 vaccines and form a technical team to look into the tender process.
The decision was taken in the State Cabinet meeting held under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik this evening. Several resolutions were adopted at the meeting to tackle the COVID crisis.
The state cabinet has lauded the commitment of COVID Warriors in their fight against the Coronavirus.
According to a press note, various measures have been taken by the state government in the ongoing fight against COVID-19 such as testing, tracing, vaccination, & lockdown, etc. The State Cabinet thanked the people of Odisha for their support in fighting COVID-19.
The State Cabinet stressed that vaccination is the most important way to protect the people of the state from future infections and to save precious lives. Countries like Israel, which have already vaccinated a large part of their population, are now returning to normalcy.
Besides, vaccination has been effective in reducing the severity of the disease and reducing the risk of developing life-threatening complications. Even though people who have been vaccinated have been infected, they have been shown to be less susceptible.
The state government is committed to making every effort to ensure the immunization of the people of Odisha, ensure the supply of vaccines, the safety of the people of the state, and restore normalcy in the state as soon as possible.
The State Cabinet today decided to take steps for procuring COVID-19 vaccines from various major vaccination companies in the world so that the people of Odisha can be inoculated in time.
The state cabinet has decided to float a global tender in this regard.
“Immediate immunization of our at-risk populations and the protection of their livelihoods will help in the recovery of people’s livelihoods. A technical committee will be set up to look into the matter, the State Cabinet informed.
The Odisha Government has urged that the central government remove all taxes on the vaccine, which will put less pressure on the state’s economy and help the state government in its efforts to make the vaccine public.
The ongoing battle against COVID is a very long one. Therefore, the additional resources that the central government collects through various cesses and surcharges need to be appropriately distributed among the states.
The state government reaffirmed its commitment to investing in available resources to strengthen the fight against COVID-19 and provide appropriate medical care to infected patients.
On this occasion, the State Cabinet humbly urged the public to strictly adhere to the rules such as wearing masks properly, frequent washing of hands with soap, maintaining social distancing, staying at home, and not going out unnecessarily.
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