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- Published: May 11, 2021 14:55
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday suggested that the Centre should procure the COVID-19 vaccine formula from 2 manufacturers and share it with other companies in the country to scale up production of the vaccine.
Kejriwal said there is a shortage of vaccine across the country and there is an urgent need to ramp up its manufacturing on war footing while developing a national policy to inoculate everyone in the next few months.
He said the Centre should ensure that all the vaccine manufacturing plants in the country start producing COVID doses.
Only 2 companies are producing vaccines. They produce only 6-7 crore vaccines a month. This way, it’ll take over 2 yrs to vaccinate everyone. Many waves would’ve come by then. Important to increase vaccine production on war footing & frame national plan to vaccinate all: Delhi CM pic.twitter.com/FRA75slmwZ
— ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2021
Not just 2, several companies should be deployed to produce vaccines. Centre should collect the formula to produce vaccines from these 2 companies & give it to all those companies that can produce vaccine safely. Centre has the power to do this in these difficult times: Delhi CM
— ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2021
The two COVID vaccine manufacturers can be provided royalty for use of their formula by other companies, he added.
Netizens not convinced, find fault in CM’s advice
A section of netizens were clearly not convinced with CM Kejriwal’s suggestion for scaling up vaccine production. Many of them took potshots at him for utter chaotic situation in the national capital despite best of medical infrastructure in the country while many pointed out his ‘erroneous judgement’ in doling out vaccine advice.
Over 1.39 lakh people were vaccinated in Delhi on Monday, of which nearly 46 per cent belonged to the 18-44 age group, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Tuesday.
On Monday, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Atishi had said the Delhi government will have to close vaccination centres where Covaxin is being administered to beneficiaries in the 18-44 age group after Tuesday evening if its stocks are not replenished.