Odisha Spells Out Logistics For COVID-19 Vaccination, Seeks Rs 33 Cr Central Aid

Bhubaneswar: The first State Steering Committee meeting to devise innovative strategies for monitoring of COVID-19 vaccine coverage is scheduled to be held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy on Friday.

Odisha requires 936 small ice-lined refrigerators (ILRs), 70 large ILRs, 30 large deep freezers, 7,331 needle-cum-hub cutter, 506 sharp pits, 1,473 data loggers, two walk-in coolers and two 15 KVA generators, besides 10 crore syringes, to go about with the task, The New Indian Express reported.

Additional Chief Secretary of Health department PK Mohapatra told the daily that the state has taken up the logistic requirements with the Centre and the Union Health Ministry has been requested to provide financial assistance.

The government has reportedly sought Rs 33.5 crore central assistance for managing the cold chain and logistics for the vaccination.

“The process will involve huge manpower and logistic support and take months to be completed,” he said.

On Wednesday, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had said that that the elderly and expectant mothers will be administered vaccine during the first phase, along with the healthcare workers.

The state has already prepared a database of 3,17,692 healthcare workers (HCWs) along with that of 8,267 vaccinators. As many as 29,276 session sites have been identified.