E-Paper
Rahul Gandhi bats for Covid-19 vaccines for all, says 'everyone has right to safe life'
In addition to the Congress, several political parties, including the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), have in the recent days urged for universal vaccination in India, instead of the specific age criteria, keeping in mind the spike in Covid-19 cases.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday endorsed the vaccine against coronavirus disease (Covid-19) for all and said that "everyone has the right to a safe life". From his official Twitter account, Gandhi also shared a video as part of Congress' #SpeakUpForVaccinesForAll campaign on social media and urged citizens to protect themselves from the virus by making themselves and everyone else aware about the appropriate vaccine.
"The country needs the Corona vaccine. You all should also raise your voice for it. Everyone has the right to a safe life," he said in a tweet in Hindi.
The 75-second video highlights that the country is facing a crisis over the coronavirus pandemic, with daily nationwide spikes in lakhs of cases. Despite there being adequate vaccines, the central government has "failed" to control the pandemic, the Congress campaign alleges, adding that there is a "shortage of vaccines, medicines, and injections" in various parts of the country.
Congress alleges that there are several vaccination centres across India where there are no vaccines for the past several days and that despite this fact, India is exporting vaccines abroad without paying attention to its own common citizens. Congress demands that the central government provide a fixed timeline to ensure "vaccine for all" in India, and impose a temporary ban on the export of Covid-19 shots.
In addition to the Congress, several political parties, including the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), have in the recent days urged for universal vaccination, instead of the specific age criteria, keeping in mind the spike in Covid-19 cases. India on Monday reported 1,68,912 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the nation's infection tally up to 1,35,27,717. According to the Union health ministry, 904 Covid-related deaths were reported in the country in the last 24 hours, mounting the death toll up to 1,70,179. The number of active Covid-19 cases in India stands at 12,01,009.
Meanwhile, from April 2, the government started vaccinating all people above 45 years as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for the four-day-long 'Tika Utsav'. India started its vaccination drive on January 16 with priority given to all healthcare and frontline workers in the first phase. The second phase started on March 1 where doses were administered to people above the age of 60 and those between 45 and 59 years with specific comorbidities.
