E-Paper
War of words over vaccines: Centre says Maharashtra wasted 5 lakh doses
The number of Covid-19 cases had eased in India but a second wave of the virus has since returned with a vengeance, with more than 126,000 new infections recorded in the past 24 hours, a new record
The issue of vaccine shortage has resulted in a war of words between the Centre and the states. Leading the war is Maharashtra, where health minister Rajesh Tope issued a dire warning on Wednesday, saying supplies would run out in three days unless replenished.
He also said that vaccination drive has been stopped at many centres because of the shortage of doses. On Thursday, Tope said that the Centre is sending 17 lakh doses, but this number is also less as Maharashtra needs 40 lakh doses to meet its daily target.
But the Centre accused the Maharashtra government of wasting the doses.
"Maharashtra has 23 lakh doses, which is supply for five days. Every state has stock for 3-4 days. It is the state’s responsibility to send it to various districts. Maharashtra has, in fact, wasted five lakh doses," said Union minister Prakash Javadekar.
On Wednesday, Union health minister Harsh Vardhan lashed out at Maharashtra government, accusing it of "misgovernance" in tackling Covid-19. In a strongly worded statement, the health minister said that Maharashtra followed "utterly casual approach".
The statement was criticised by chief of Nationalist Congress Party's (NCP) Maharashtra unit and water resources minister Jayant Patil. In a tweet, Patil said, "The letter circulated by the Union health minister yesterday, is only hatred towards Maharashtra. The role of central government is non-cooperative with Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government as we do not have similar ideology."
The number of Covid-19 cases had eased in India but a second wave of the virus has since returned with a vengeance, with more than 126,000 new infections recorded in the past 24 hours, a new record.
Several regions have tightened curbs on activity while Maharashtra, the current epicentre of India's epidemic, is set to enter a lockdown at the weekend. The state government there has also announced a series of fresh curbs to check the spread of the infection.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to hold a meeting with chief ministers of states on Thursday to take stock of Covid-19 situation in the country and the ongoing vaccination drive.
The Centre has also dispatched 50 teams to various badly-affected states, including Maharashtra.
