Chief minister Naveen Patnaik asks Union oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan for wider access to vaccines

BHUBANESWAR: Chief minister on Wednesday asked Union oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s cooperation for early wider availability of Covid vaccines in the state during a discussion between them on the state’s Covid situation.
Health minister Naba Kishore Das requested Union health minister Harsh Vardhan to supply enough Covishield at the earliest as more than 22 lakh people are waiting for their second dose after their due date of vaccination.
Dharmendra tweeted that Naveen asked for enhancing vaccine availability in the state when the two spoke. Dharmendra said he briefed the CM about his discussion with the Union health minister and chemicals and fertilisers minister Mansukh Singh Mandviya on extending all possible support to Odisha, including facilitating smooth supply of Covid-19 vaccine doses, rapid testing kits, Remdesivir, and other critical drugs.
Stating that the next 15 days is crucial to contain and control the surge in Covid-19, particularly in Odisha, Dharmendra suggested the chief minister to involve members of the civil society as volunteers and watchdogs to strengthen relief measures and containment efforts at the grassroots level. “I also took the opportunity to request CM Shri @Naveen_Odisha for setting up a Covid Crisis Management Committee at the village & Municipal ward level comprising members from all political parties in Odisha to facilitate synergised efforts for effective management of #Covid19,” he tweeted.
During a video conference of Harsh Vardhan with health ministers of Odisha besides Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Punjab, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Telangana, Das asked the Union minister for better clarity on vaccine availability.
Das also asked for 30,000 oxygen cylinders, 500 ventilators. He suggested a round-the-clock helpline by the national taskforce on vaccination for sharing information. “I reminded the Union minister that I have written two letters in past two months seeking 25 lakh doses of Covishield. I requested him for early supply,” Das said. He also requested for five lakh PPE kits, 10 lakh gloves and 10 lakh N95 masks.