Covid-19: As India vaccinates 9 crore people, these states are complaining about paucity of doses
Health ministers of Maharashtra, Odisha and Delhi have publically declared that their stock of covid vaccines is running out.
New Delhi: India has become fastest vaccinating country in the world with over 9 crore people being innoculated with the Covid-19 vaccine.
According to the health ministry, cumulatively 9,01,98,673 vaccine doses have been administered through 13,77,304 sessions, as per the provisional report till 7 am today. Nearly 30 lakh vaccination doses were administered in the last 24 hours. Eight states account for 60% of the total doses given so far in the country.
Vaccine Politics
But now, the vaccination has found itself in the centre of controversy as some states have claimed that they are running out of vaccine dosages. Health ministers of Maharashtra, Odisha and Delhi have publically declared that their stock of covid vaccines is running out and are alleging they are not receiving fresh doses from Central govt.
While on the other hand, Union Heath Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan termed all these claims as false and has also asked the leaders to stop this ‘vaccine politics’.
‘Centre doing politics over Vaccination,’ says Delhi Health Minister
Delhi Health Minister, Satyendra Jain said, “The vaccination drive is going well in Delhi. We received some vaccines yesterday. We have stock for four to five days. We have demanded more and we will get it.”
When asked about the Union Health Ministry’s letter to Punjab, Delhi and Maharashtra govt. asking them to improve vaccination drive in their respective state/UT, Jain said, “Centre is doing politics over vaccination. We should fight the COVID-19 pandemic together. Centre was alleging that there was less vaccination of healthcare workers in Delhi. We can also say that there was less vaccination at Centre’s hospitals. This isn’t an issue, the issue is that we have to vaccinate more and more people soon.”
Maha Health Minister claims, ‘some vaccine centres shut’
On the other Maharashtra’s Health Minister, Rajesh Tope declared on Monday that the state govt. has run out of vaccine doses in three of their centres. Rajesh Tope said on Thursday that vaccination centres in Satara, Sangli, and Panvel have stopped the COVID-19 vaccination drive after running out of stock.
Tope earlier had said his government would raise issues of COVID-19 vaccine and Remedisivir drug shortages before Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the virtual meet scheduled for Thursday.
‘Just 2 days stock left,’ claims Odisha Health Minister
Odisha Health Minister, Naba Kishor Das also declared on Thursday that they have just two days of stock left for covid-19 vaccination drive. He said, “Right now we have 5.34 lakhs doses. We administer 2.5 lakh vaccines daily. So, our stock will last for 2 more days. We’ve written to the Centre to send us a minimum of 25 lakh vaccines for 10 days so that we can vaccinate properly.”