Bhubaneswar: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik has sought 95 percent vaccine allocation for the State. In a meeting with prime minister Narendra Modi and other State chief ministers Friday, CM Patnaik raised the issue of vaccination in Odisha.

The chief minister said, “Odisha has been performing very well in vaccination and our wastage is among the lowest in the country.” He pointed out that due to low presence of private hospitals in the state, the lifting of the vaccines from the 25% quota has been less.

Reiterating the earlier communication with Central government on the issue, he said that we had written to the government of India to increase the allocation to the State government to 95% and reduce the allocation to private hospitals to 5%. This will help us in increasing the pace of vaccination in the State, he added.

Voicing concerns over the anticipated Third Wave and its impact on children, Patnaik said, “I would like to request that the vaccines for the age group- 12-18 years may be prioritised and rolled out at the earliest.”