BHUBANESWAR: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik has asked the Centre to allow the sale of Covid vaccine in the open market so that those who are willing and have the means to buy them can get inoculated. He also suggested that metropolitan cities, which have been witnessing the bulk of infections, should be given priority in vaccination and states be allowed the freedom to chose the age group to be inoculated.
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and released to the media on Saturday, Naveen wrote, “Covid-19 vaccines may be made available outside the government supply chain in the open market so that willing citizens who can afford the vaccine can avail them. This will help governments to have a focused approach towards vulnerable sections of the society.”
Demanding priority vaccination in metropolitan cities, Naveen said, “The few metropolitan cities which contribute the highest Covid cases should be allowed priority vaccination and flexibility in age criteria as these are economic nerve centres of the country, and any lockdown in these areas will have an impact on the rest of the country in terms of labour movement.”
Sources said if cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad are fully vaccinated, it may prevent migrant exodus to native states, thereby avoiding the spread of infection and sparing livelihood being affected. Naveen also suggested allowing import of more vaccines which have been approved by credible global agencies so that the vaccine supply in the country can go up. He said the Centre and states should support vaccine manufacturing units to ramp up production.
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