Bhubaneswar: With an aim to scale up vaccination drive in the State, the Odisha Government today sought vaccine allocation in the ratio of 95:5 for the Government and private hospitals.
In a letter to the Secretary of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Additional Chief Secretary of Health and Family Welfare Department, PK Mohapatra has said that the Government: Private vaccine allocation ratio of 75:25 may be revised to 95:5 ratio, keeping in mind the ground reality in Odisha.
In the revised guidelines for implementation of COVID vaccination programme, which will come into effect from June 21 across the country, it has been mentioned that 25% of monthly production of vaccines by domestic manufacturers can be directly procured by private hospitals. However, till date, only four private hospitals in Odisha have been able to procure vaccines directly from the manufacturers, the letter reads.
In Odisha the presence of private hospitals is very low and limited to only about 5% of the total health care sector in the State. Hence it is apprehended that as per the existing guidelines, Odisha will lose out on its proportionate share of 25% allocation of vaccines to the private sector.
In view of the low presence of private healthcare sector in Odisha, the Government: Private vaccine allocation ratio of 75:25 may be revised to 95:5 ratio, keeping in mind the ground reality, the letter stated.
Further, the share of the private sector should be handed to the State Government for subsequent mobilization and allocation to private hospitals, it further said.