Vaccination can't be a battle among states- Navin Patnaik

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has said that the best way to "protect our people against future waves" of COVID-19 is to centrally procure the vaccines and decentralise the execution of the inoculation drive. In a letter written to his counterparts across the country, he referred to the unabated pandemic as perhaps the greatest challenge faced by the nation since the freedom struggle. He recommended that all states come together to form a consensus on the matter in the "true spirit of cooperative federalism" to save live and livelihoods.

"No state is safe unless all the states adopt vaccination as the top most priority and execute it on war-footing. But this cannot be a battle among the states to compete against each other to procure vaccines," Patnaik said in his letter, referring to  phase 3 of the Union government's vaccine policy. "It is quite clear that the global vaccine manufacturers are looking forward to the Union Government for the clearances and assurances. They are unwilling to get into supply contract with the state governments. While the domestic vaccine manufacturers are having supply constraints and are not able to commit required supplies," The Odisha Chief Minister said.

"Under the circumstances, the best option available is for the Government of India to centrally procure the vaccines and distribute it among the States. At the same time, the execution of the vaccination programme has to be decentralised and states allowed the flexibility to determine their own mechanisms," Patnaik said.