E-Paper
Congress insulted nation by referring to Covid-19 variant as Indian: Javadekar
On the Delhi government’s demand for more vaccines for the state, Javadekar said the Union government is making efforts to undertake distribution of vaccines to all states.
Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar on Saturday accused the Congress party of “insulting the nation” by referring to the B.1.617 variant of the Coronavirus as the Indian variant and said the opposition party has not only been stoking fear and apprehension, but also weakening the fight against the pandemic.
Addressing the media, Javadekar said Congress president Sonia Gandhi should explain why her party is engaging in negative politics and why she has not criticised her party colleague and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister, Kamal Nath’s statement on the variant being Indian.
“He called it the Indian Corona. And said Hamari Pechaan, Mera Bharat Covid. This is an insult to India. Many other Congress leaders have also done so. The WHO has already clarified that no country’s name has been attributed to any variant,” Javadekar said.
Kamal Nath while attacking the government for its response to the second wave of Covid-19 had referred to the B.1.167 variant as the Indian variant.
On the letter Gandhi has written to Prime Minister Modi on the procurement of drugs for patients of black fungus, the minister said the government has already taken proactive steps to procure the necessary medicines for the over 9000 patients across the country.
In her letter to the PM, the Congress chief said there is an acute shortage of vital drug Amphotericin-B that is required to treat Mucormycosis or black fungus. She also said that the since the black fungus infection is not covered under the Ayushmann Bharat that offers free health insurance to the poor, the government should provide relief to a large number of patients who cannot afford the treatment.
Javadekar, however, said the opposition has not played a constructive role and instead created doubts about the vaccines. “When Covaxin was developed after research in the country they called it the BJP vaccine; now when the vaccine has proved effective, they are spreading doubts and fears that there will be a travel ban because it is not on the list of vaccines that are globally recognised... As far as I know WHO has not taken any such decision, but the Congress’s statements show the party is insulting the country and weakening the fight against the pandemic,” the minister said.
On the Delhi government’s demand for more vaccines for the state, Javadekar said the Union government is making all efforts to undertake distribution of vaccines to all states. “The 50 lakh vaccines that have been provided to Delhi so far were provided by the Union government. It is the Union government that has provided the 20 crore plus vaccines in the country and in future also it will continue to do so,” he said.
Javadekar said Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has already explained how the government plans to meet the demand for vaccines to inoculate all by the end of December. Criticising Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, the minister said earlier he complained about oxygen shortage and then said there is sufficient supply. “He has to stop making excuses,” Javadekar said.
