Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Thursday said that several leaders are making irresponsible statements about the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination drive. Slamming irresponsible statements from political leaders over the COVID-19 vaccination drive, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Thursday informed that a total of 12 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine will be made available in July to the country and urged state leaders to not create panic.
In a series of tweets, Dr Harsh Vardhan said: "I'm seeing irresponsible statements from various leaders regarding #LargestVaccineDrive. Stating facts below so people can judge intentions of these leaders. After GoI provided 75% of vaccines available for free, vaccination speed picked up & 11.50 cr doses were given in June."
The Health Minister said that states have already been informed in advance about vaccine supplies in July.
In another tweet, the Union Health Minister said, "States have already been informed in advance about Covid-19 vaccine supplies for July. This info was shared with States 15 days prior, along with details about day wise supply of a total of 12 crore doses, which will be made available in July. Private hospital supply will be over and above this."
He further requested political leaders to desist from their shameless urge to play politics during the time of the pandemic, saying that the vaccination issues in the states show that they need to better plan their inoculation drives.
"If there are issues in states, it shows that they need to better plan their #vaccination drives. Intra-state planning & logistics are the responsibility of the states. I request these leaders to desist from their shameless urge to play politics even in the midst of a pandemic," the health minister tweeted.
He slammed the political leaders and asked them to focus on governance. "If these leaders are aware of these facts and are still giving such statements, I consider it most unfortunate. If they don’t know, they need to focus on governance. Will again request state leaders to spend more energies in planning and not in creating panic," Dr Harsh Vardhan tweeted.
Many states like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, etc have said that they are facing a shortage of COVID-19 vaccines. India has administered around 33.57 crore vaccine doses so far under the ongoing nationwide vaccination drive.
(With inputs from Agencies)
