Bhubaneswar, April 17: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today suggested Prime Minister Narendra Modi for consideration to make Covid-19 vaccine available outside the government supply chain in the open market so that willing citizens who can afford the vaccine can avail them.

This will help Governments to have a focused approach towards vulnerable sections of the society, Patnaik mentioned in his letter to the PM.

Covid Vaccines that have been already approved globally by credible agencies and governments may be accorded approval to increase supply, he added.

India has a huge vaccine manufacturing potential and the Centre and States should support units to ramp up vaccine production. As this is an extraordinary situation our Governments should run the extra mile in this regard, he mentioned.

The few metropolitan cities which contribute the highest Covid cases should be allowed priority vaccination and flexibility in age criteria as these are economic nerve centres of the country, and any lockdown in these areas will have an impact on the rest of the country in terms of labour movement. At an appropriate time, adequate quantity of vaccines should be made available for the States to procure and scale up their vaccination process. I am sure with our continued co-operation India will be able to fight this situation and save people’s lives, he wrote in his letter to the PM.