As Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter on Sunday to acknowledge the contribution of healthcare and frontline workers after India completed one year of its Covid-19 vaccination drive, Opposition parties in West Bengal slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government for alleged vaccine shortage in the state and for indulging in “vaccine politics”.
“Today we mark #1YearOfVaccineDrive. I salute each and every individual who is associated with the vaccination drive.Our vaccination programme has added great strength to the fight against COVID-19. It has led to saving lives and thus protecting livelihoods,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted on Sunday.
According to the Union health ministry, 156.76 crore vaccines have been administered till now and more than 92 per cent of India’s adult population have received at least one dose.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Saugat Roy said, “There are flaws in the central government’s work on vaccination. It has not been able to get everyone vaccinated yet. All vaccines are in the hands of the central government. However, West Bengal has not yet been able to vaccinate 40 per cent of its population because the Centre hasn’t been able to provide vaccines to the state. Instead, the vaccines are being exported. If those vaccines were given to the states, it would have been possible to vaccinate everyone already.”
West Bengal’s Minister of State of health and family welfare Chandrima Bhattacharya slammed the Union government and alleged that the state had become a victim of the Centre’s “vaccine politics”.
Taking a dig at the BJP-led government, Congress state president Adhir Chowdhury said,”It’s nothing more than self-promotion of the central government.”
“Not everyone was vaccinated. But Modi is being thanked for picking up the phone! The government could not keep its word by playing the drum of lies. It is a shame!” said CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty. He claimed that both the TMC and BJP were equally responsible for the low vaccinations in the state.