Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday reached out to 11 other non-BJP Chief Ministers, stressing the need for jointly taking up the issue of vaccine for all with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In a letter to his counterparts in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Maharashtra, Punjab, Odisha, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Delhi, he said that this is the need of the hour as with an expected third wave on the anvil, the only way to deal with it for mass vaccination through which herd immunity can be developed. Pinarayi Vijayan said all the states should put before the PM the need for giving the vaccines free of cost to all the states, but the Centre is trying to wash its hands of it and asking the states to make its own arrangements even as companies are not that keen to enter into arrangements with the states. Hence if the Centre invites a global tender for the vaccines, it would be much better and moreover if the burden of vaccines comes on the states, it could well turn out to be huge financial burden, he said. Besides the issue of federalism is also there, he noted. (IANS)
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