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'Only rhetoric, no vaccine': Rahul Gandhi continues jibe against Centre
Congress has been a staunch critic of the Centre's vaccine policy since the vaccination drive was rolled out
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter on Wednesday to hit out at the Centre over the shortage of vaccines as he said that there is only rhetoric, not the vaccine. Tagging a media report that claimed that Delhi and many other states were facing a shortage of vaccines though the Centre had denied it, Gandhi tweeted “there are ‘jumlas’ (rhetoric) but not vaccines,”.
Congress has been a staunch critic of the Centre's vaccine policy since the vaccination drive was rolled out. When Mansukh Mandaviya replaced Dr Harsh Vardhan as the health minister in the recent reshuffle, Rahul asked, "Does this mean no more vaccine shortage?"
Government-run vaccination centres in the national capital have been facing a vaccine shortage. Many centres have asked beneficiaries not to come for vaccination until further information is available. Delhites are worried about missing their second dose.
Centres that have been closed in the last few days due to a shortage of Covishield especially are: NDMC near Bengali market, Ishani Govt Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, Navyug school at Pandara Park, Anglo Arabic Sr. Secondary at Ajmeri gate, Guru Govind Singh school at Deputy Gunj, Sarvodaya Vidyalaya at Mori gate, GBSSS at Rajouri Garden, Tihar Jail Gate no 6, SDMC school No 4 in Tilak Nagar, CGSH at Paschim Vihar and Govt Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya at Naraina, reported ANI.
Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain said about 1.5 lakh Covishield vaccines were received on July 12, and are likely to be used up by July 13. "Vaccine availability is low. We received 1.5 lakh Covishield vaccines yesterday, which will be used up by tomorrow, after which centres will be closed. We have to repeatedly shut centres. We can't work on Haryana's model to save jabs," Jain said.
Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh have been witnessing a decline in vaccination rates. Even states like West Bengal, Maharashtra, Rajasthan which inoculated a record number of people on July 13 asked for more vaccines as a crunch is setting in.
