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Centre trying to politicise Covid-19 vaccination drive: States
Health minister Harsh Vardhan, in a Wednesday letter, flagged low vaccination of eligible beneficaries saying the performance of these states on vaccination was below national average and they were raising vaccine shortage issues to “hide” their vaccination failure and spreading panic among people by demanding vaccination of all without inoculating enough eligible beneficiaries.
States have reacted sharply to the Centre’s claim of below par vaccination in Maharashtra, Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Delhi saying the Centre is trying to politicize Covid vaccination in opposition ruled states with Chhattisgarh health minister T S Singhdeo terming this disappointing and unfortunate.
Health minister Harsh Vardhan, in a Wednesday letter, flagged low vaccination of eligible beneficaries saying the performance of these states on vaccination was below national average and they were raising Covid vaccine shortage issues to “hide” their vaccination failure and spreading panic among people by demanding vaccination of all without inoculating enough eligible beneficiaries.
Following the minister’s letter, union additional health secretary Manohar Agnani said that the performance of these states and UT were below the national average of 85.8% of health care workers vaccinated and needed improvement. Agnani urged these states to undertake immediate necessary corrective actions towards improving the performance of Covid-19 vaccination drive in their regions.
Reacting to the two letters claiming that Maharashtra was not able to use the vaccines made available, state health minister Rajesh Tope said his government has told the Centre that it needs 4 million vaccine doses every week as the state seeks to accelerate its vaccine drive, but that the Centre has actually reduced the allocation.
“How can a state that has the most number of Covid cases in the country get fewer vaccine doses than Gujarat? Tope asked. Gujarat’s population is half of Maharashtra, their active cases is 17,000. Still Gujarat got 10 million vaccine doses and we got 14 million, he said, claiming Bharatiya Janata Party ruled states such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana have got higher vaccine doses than Maharashtra.
Trying to strike a balance, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said, the Central government is cooperating with the state government in these tough times. “We all have to come together and fight this menace. The State and Centre both have to come together and find out a way to fight the pandemic.”
Singhdeo said he was ‘disappointed’ by Union minister Harsh Vardhan’s statement targeting Chhattisgarh for “incited vaccine hesitancy”.
“When we talked on the day he was having meeting with the health ministers, the union minister had said that we are working as a team…his statement does not give me the sense of being part of the same team,” Singhdeo said.
“We shared everything – figures, targets, deficiencies at the meeting only and after sharing that if the statement like this comes then it is very disappointing,” said Singhdeo.
He was reacting to Harsh Vardhan’s statement that regular comments by leaders from Chhattisgarh on vaccination are intended to spread misinformation and panic and he would urge the state to focus its energies on ramping up health infrastructure rather than on petty politicking.
Delhi health minister, Satyendar Jain took a dig at the union health ministry saying the low vaccination rate among healthcare workers in Delhi is because of low turnout at the four Centre-run hospitals in Delhi.
“The Centre said that vaccination is less among health care workers in Delhi, but even we can say that it is because the Central government hospitals saw less vaccination. Only 30 or 40% people in Central government hospitals (where Covaxin was provdied) have been immunised. In Delhi government hospitals, 75% have been immunized,” he said.
Hesitancy for the vaccine was high in January, owing to the lack of phase III efficacy data for Covaxin and the issue was highlighted by resident doctors from Dr Ram Manohar Lohia hospital, he said.
He added that the fight against coronavirus is not a Centre versus state issue and should not be politicised. “I would say our common fight is against the coronavirus pandemic, and it is not a state vs Centre thing. So, we should not politicise the issue, and fight it together.”
“The vaccination drive is going well in Delhi; we have received some vials yesterday. The vaccination stock is available for four to five days with us. We will be receiving it continuously as per our demand.”
The Centre’s letter mentioned that the coverage among frontline workers and those above the age of 45 was higher in Delhi than the national average. Till Wednesday evening, 73.24% of the registered frontline workers received their first dose as against a national average of 71.1%. And, 40.98% received their second dose as against the national average of 29.97%. The coverage among those above the age of 45 years stands at 18.66% in Delhi as against the national average of 16.71%, said Delhi government officials, quoting the letter.
Punjab health minister Balbir Sidhu said that Vardhan’s statements “may demoralise health and frontline workers”. “We all should stay united in this fight and everyone is trying to give its best to end the pandemic. Statements about pin-pointing states by alleging that they are not doing enough, may demoralise the health and frontline workers who are giving their best in these tough times,” said Sidhu, adding that he will write a letter to the Union health minister in this regard on Friday.
“We have been demanding vaccination for working population below 45 also as they are the one who are becoming more infectious as they have to go out for jobs and other purposes. But Centre is silent on the issue. We have taken up the issue with PM this evening as well,” Sidhu said.
Jharkhand Health Minister Banna Gupta on Thursday reiterated the state’s demand for vaccines saying they are left with stock for a couple of days. “We have stock for the next 1-2 days. We have made a request to the Union Health Minister and I am hopeful that he will provide the vaccines,” he said. So far, six states have informed the Centre about shortage of vaccines leading to slowing down of vaccinations in the state.
(With inputs from states bureaus)
