Congress claims credit for booster jab announcement, slams Centre

The Congress party organized a press conference and slammed the Centre for its handling of the pandemic

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, on Sunday, gave himself credit for the government’s decision to vaccinate children aged between 15-18 years by saying that the Centre has “accepted my suggestion”.

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. (HT File)

Gandhi tweeted, “The central government has accepted my suggestion of a booster dose—this is the right step. The safety of vaccines and boosters will have to reach the people of the country. He added the hashtags, “BoosterJab #VaccinateIndia.”

Wayanad MP’s response came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced, on Saturday, that India will start vaccinating children between 15-18 years from January 3, 2022, and “precaution dose” for healthcare workers and citizens aged 60 and above from January 10, 2022, amid the rising cases linked to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus disease.

Within a few hours of Rahul Gandhi’s tweet, the Congress party organized a press conference and slammed the Centre for its handling of the pandemic given the possibility of a third wave in the first few months of 2022.

During the second wave, “The lives of our countrymen were played. Just before a possible third wave, the lives of our countrymen are once again at risk,” said Congress General Secretary and spokesperson Randeep Surjewala. He added, “The tepid response to Omicron virus bordering on the directionless drift is even more alarming now,” deeming this as “criminal negligence”.

Surjewala also demanded that the Prime Minister take accountability for his government’s actions. Providing official data, he said the government currently has 17.74 crore vaccines only, however, to inoculate the full adult population, 59.40 crore vaccine doses are needed. The Congress spokesperson also alleged that 40 lakh people have died during the second wave due to the “criminal negligence” of the government.

Bharatiya Janata Party spokespersons were not available to comment on the matter.