New Delhi
The Congress on Wednesday played up hashtag #SpeakUpForFreeUniversalVaccination for its leaders, including former president Rahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to slam the Modi government for its mess-up in the vaccination.
Rahul tweeted only vaccine is the most strong armour against the coronavirus disease. He gave a call to the people to raise voice to wake up the Centre to press for free vaccination of every Indian.
Priyanka asked: “Who is responsible for India’s confused and dithering vaccination programme?” She noted “we are one of the biggest vaccine manufacturers in the world; yet only 3.4% of our population is fully vaccinated.”
Rajya Sabha Opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge tweeted: “BJP govt is a total failure in facing the second wave. Only 3.3% population is vaccinated and at this pace it would take years to vaccinate the entire population. We want the vaccination completed at the earliest.”
Some other tweets:
@BhupenKBorah: The Modi govt has failed miserably to vaccinate Indians. While govt is busy with grandiose plans, they are neglecting real issues. India is the biggest manufacturer of vaccines & yet, the was no plan to vaccinate its own.
Gidugu Rudraraju: Vaccination is the only solution against Covid19. The WHO & various other organisations have been warning the Govt of India to take up mass vaccination programme, in which PM Modi & his govt have been a big failure.
@NPatnaikOdisha: The Modi govt made big promises to the Indian people. But have failed to give vaccinations free to save the lives of people. We demand free vaccination against Corona should be given to each & every citizen of India.
@DrAChellaKumar: To achieve the target of Covid-free India, the Modi govt should come forward to vaccinate people free of cost. The Centre must revamp the policy to ensure universal vaccination of all Indians.
@ArchanaDalmia: India is reeling with the effects of the pandemic. Its no longer numbers, its names and there are casualties in every home. The Centre should revamp the vaccination policy to ensure universal vaccination.
On her FB post, Priyanka said the Centre has left the vaccine distribution in the middle as after perpetrating a directionless policy, it withdrew own responsibility and put the burden on the states. That explains locks in the vaccination centres, she said.
Patnaik writes to CMs, seeks consensus on Centre procuring vax
Bhubaneswar: Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik has written to CMs of all states and UTs, stating instead of competing against each other for vaccines they should arrive at a consensus to demand a centralised procurement of global Covid-19 vaccines by the Centre.
Patnaik said: “But this cannot be a battle among the states to compete against each other to procure vaccines.” He said he has written to the Centre, however, he suggested “all the state govts should come to a consensus for early resolution of this problem. We must act fast before any third wave comes and creates further havoc.”
Kerala assembly passes resolution
Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Assembly on Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution demanding the Centre provide Covid-19 vaccines for free to all states, even as the ruling and opposition members clashed over the Covid-19 fatality numbers in the state. Minister for Health, Women and Child Welfare Veena George moved the resolution in the House as the state reels under acute vaccine shortage. The resolution also requested the central government for timely distribution of the vaccines. “In order to fight Covid-19, we need to provide free universal vaccination which will ensure that all sections of society are protected from the virus,” George said.
Media reports on doses administered in May factually incorrect: Govt
The Union health ministry on Wednesday termed as “factually incorrect and without any basis” media reports alleging, while the Centre has promised 12 crore doses of Covid vaccines in June, only around 5.8 crore doses were administered of the 7.9 crore doses available in May.
