Expect to receive more COVID-19 vaccine doses within 2 days, says Odisha vaccination In-charge

Amid a surge in coronavirus cases, Odisha COVID-19 vaccination In-Charge Bijay Panigrahi on Friday said the state is left with only two days of vaccine stock and expects to receive more vaccine doses from Centre within two days.

Amid a surge in coronavirus cases, Odisha COVID-19 vaccination In-Charge Bijay Pgrahi on Friday said the state is left with only two days of vaccine stock and expects to receive more vaccine doses from Centre within two days.

Speaking to reporters about the situation of vaccine stock, Pgrahi said, "We have 3.2 lakh doses of Covishield and 1 lakh doses of Covaxin in Odisha. With this stock, we can continue vaccination for two days. We expect to receive more vaccine doses from the Government of India within two days."

"On Thursday we gave 1,32,872 doses of vaccine to people more than 45 years of age. Including yesterday's count, we have completed 34,39,878 doses to all groups of people including healthcare workers, frontline workers and citizens above 45 years of age," said Pgrahi further speaking about the status of vaccination in the state.

The Odisha Vaccination In-charge said that the state has set a target of vaccinating 2 lakh people on Friday, adding that they will be able to achieve the said target.

In Thursday's meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had asked the Centre to supply 10 days stock of 25 lakh vaccine doses, added Pgrahi.

The Prime Minister had chaired a meeting with the chief ministers over the COVID-19 situation in the country.

Patnaik who took part in the meeting had said on Thursday that the state requested the Centre to ensure at least 10 days stock of COVID-19 vaccines.The Chief Minister had said the state is vaccinating 2.5 lakh, persons, every day and has the capability to increase it further. Patnaik had said the state has not been able to ramp up vaccination due to supply issues.

Odisha Health Minister Naba Kishore Das had on Thursday said that the state has a stock of COVID-19 vaccine only for the next two days.

"Right now we have 5.34 lakh doses. We administer 2.5 lakh vaccines daily. So, our stock will last for two more days. We've written to the Centre to send us a minimum of 25 lakh vaccines for 10 days so that we can vaccinate properly," Das had told .

He added that the state has already seen the closure of 700 out of 1400 vaccination centres.

( With inputs from ANI )