Odisha government will bear the cost of vaccine to be administered from May 1 to people in the 18-45 age group in the State, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced here on Sunday.
“The State government placed orders for vaccine doses for everyone in the age group on Saturday. People will not have to spend a penny for vaccine. This is the responsibility of the State government,” said Mr. Patnaik. “Around 2 crore people in the age group will benefit. Approximately ₹2000 crore will be spent,” he said.
Population in the 18-44 age group in Odisha is estimated to be 1.93 crore. Except for the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation area, the rest of the State would be covered by Covishield.
The government has placed orders for 10.34 lakh doses at the rate fixed by Bharat Biotech International. Similarly, 377 lakh doses would be procured from Serum Institute of India.
Making an emotional appeal to the people to adhere to COVID-19 protocol, he said, “Everyone should wear mask and maintain social distancing. I don’t want restrictive measures such as lockdown or shutdown. This will weaken our economy. If people remain alert, we will fight COVID-19 without resorting to lockdown.”
He said it was a war-like situation. “Lakhs of people are getting infected every day, thousands are losing their lives. The situation in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh is frightening. It has put pressure on the health system there.”
