Congress fires jibe as UK approves Covid Vaccine; asks 'will Indians be Aatmanirbhar?'

Hours after the UK authorized Pfizer's Covid vaccine for emergency use, the Congress party has asked if the Indian people will get the COVID-19 vaccine, in what comes across more as a jibe than a question. The Congress on its official Twitter handle shared two screenshots, claiming that Government of India has been issuing conflicting statements on COVID vaccination. While PM Modi in one of the screenshot says that everyone in the country will get the vaccine, the health ministry in another screenshot says that GoI never spoke about vaccinating all. 

However, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan had said that the government had never spoken about vaccinating the entire country, in the context that the purpose is to break the chain of COVID-19 transmission. ICMR DG Dr Balram Bhargava explained that if critical mass of people is vaccinated, then there might be no need to vaccinate the entire population. Nevertheless, Congress party added a hashtag targeting PM Modi and asked #ModiHaiToManipulationHai and fired a jibe on whether the people of India would have to be 'Aatmanirbhar' in this regard.

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ICMR DG Dr Balram Bhargava on COVID vaccine

While addressing the daily COVID-19 briefing on December 1, the Union Health Ministry and the ICMR stated that the government had never spoken about vaccinating the entire country adding that if a critical segment of people were vaccinated, the chain of transmission would be broken. "I just want to make this clear that the government has never spoken about vaccinating the entire country. It's important that we discuss such scientific issues, based on factual information only," said Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan.

"Vaccination would depend on the efficacy of the vaccine & our purpose is to break the chain of COVID-19 transmission. If we're able to vaccinate critical mass of people & break virus transmission, then we may not have to vaccinate the entire population," explained ICMR DG Dr Balram Bhargava.

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UK authorizes Pfizer's vaccine for emergency use

Pfizer and BioNTech say they've won permission Wednesday for emergency use of their COVID-19 vaccine in Britain, the world’s first coronavirus shot that’s backed by rigorous science -- and a major step toward eventually ending the pandemic. The move makes Britain one of the first countries to begin vaccinating its population as it tries to curb Europe’s deadliest COVID-19 outbreak. Other countries aren’t far behind: The U.S. and the European Union also are vetting the Pfizer shot along with a similar vaccine made by competitor Moderna Inc. Pfizer said it would immediately begin shipping limited supplies to the U.K. -- and has been gearing up for even wider distribution if given a similar nod by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a decision expected as early as next week. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla called the UK 's decision 'a historic moment.' 

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