Time to unite and work as ‘Team India’ to fight COVID: Kejriwal to Centre

New Dellhi: Calling on the Centre to play its part in the COVID-19 vaccination drive and urgently procure enough doses to inoculate people in the national capital and across the country, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said that it is time to unite and work as ‘Team India’ to combat the pandemic.

“This is the time to unite and work for both State and Centre, and not work separately. We need to work as Team India. It is the Centre’s responsibility to provide vaccines, not States. If we delay it more, do not know how many more lives will be lost”, the Delhi Chief Minister said.

As per my knowledge, no state govt has been able to procure a single dose of vaccine till now. Vaccine companies have denied speaking to the state governments: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

— ANI (@ANI) May 26, 2021

“We should have been manufacturing and stocking up vaccines.. if we’d done that, we may have prevented some of the deaths in the second wave,” he added.

Hitting out at the Centre on procuring vaccines, he drew Pakistan analogy and said that states cannot afford to compete among themselves to buy COVID vaccines – any more than being forced to buy individual stores of weapons and ammunition in case of an attack by Pakistan.

“Why isn’t this country buying vaccines? We cannot leave that responsibility on the states. Our country is at war against COVID19. If Pakistan attacks India, will we leave states on their own? Will Uttar Pradesh buy its own tanks or Delhi its own arms?” he asked the Central government.

Why isn’t this country buying vaccines? We can’t leave it on states. Our country is at war against Covid19. If Pakistan attacks India, will we leave states on their own? Will UP buy its own tanks or Delhi its own arms?: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

— ANI (@ANI) May 26, 2021

He further informed that there is no COVID vaccine available for the 18-44 age group in the national capital.

“There is no vaccine in Delhi; for 4 days vaccination centres for the 18-44 age group are shut and not just here but across India, several centres are shut. Today when we should have opened new centres, we are shutting the existing ones, which is not good,” he said.