Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow the sale of Covid-19 vaccines in the open market so that people who can afford can purchase them. The state also demanded 25 lakh doses of vaccines immediately from the Centre.

The chief minister made the request at a time when Odisha and several other states are struggling to administer Covid-19 vaccines to all eligible people amid complaints of a shortage in supply from the Centre while the number of cases and deaths continue to mount.

During the last 24 hours, four persons died in Odisha due to Covid-19 with the total toll reaching 1,942. So far 364,594 people in the state have been affected by the virus with the detection of 3,144 fresh cases during the last 24 hours.

The Congress candidate for Pipili Assembly by-election, Ajit Mangaraj, died after contracting Covid-19, forcing the Election Commission to countermand the poll which was scheduled to be held on Saturday. Mangaraj’s mother also succumbed to the disease on Friday night.

Explaining the need for making the vaccines available in the market in a letter to the Prime Minister, Patnaik said: “Covid-19 vaccines may be made 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 the government to have a focused approach towards vulnerable sections of the society.”

Urging Modi to intervene to supply 25 lakh vaccine doses to Odisha, Naveen said: “We are getting huge responses from the people to get vaccinated. However, the intermittent supply is creating a challenge in meeting the demand. In this backdrop, I had requested for 25 lakh vaccine doses to help us administer three lakh doses every day. Even at full capacity, it will take us 160 days to fully vaccinate the eligible population of our state (above 45 years).”

So far Odisha has vaccinated 47 lakh people above 45 years of age, officials said.

Naveen’s letter comes at a time when the number of daily inoculations has come down from 2 lakh to 91,195 and only 781 vaccine centres out of 1,476 sites are operational in the state. The vaccination programme has been suspended in urban areas in 10 districts.

“At an appropriate time, adequate quantity of vaccines should be made available for the states to procure and scale up their vaccination process,” Naveen said.

In the meantime, the state government is strictly enforcing the observance of Covid guidelines by the people. Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC has been clamped in the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack after 9pm along with the night curfew. Night curfew is currently in force in all the urban areas of the state.

Meanwhile, the Puri district administration announced that no devotees will be allowed to enter the Shree Jagannath Temple after 8pm. All the devotees have to leave the shrine before 8.30pm as the night curfew is also in force in the pilgrim town.