Cong slams vaccine export to Pak, cries shortage in Maha despite Health Min's fact check

Just a day after Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan's scathing counter at the Maharashtra government's allegations over shortage of COVID-19 vaccine doses, the state's Congress chief Nana Patole has threatened the Centre over vaccine 'politics'. Hitting out at the Centre's vaccine diplomacy, Patole pointed out that the government is providing 'free vaccines' to Pakistan but not Maharashtra. Patole's comments come even after Union Minister Prakash Javadekar listed down the number of doses supplied to the state and the number of doses in transit. 

Congress - the third leg of the MVA government in Maharashtra - has been demanding to remove the age bar on COVID-19 vaccines. Patole also remarked that the BJP and central leaders are 'targeting' Maharashtra and that they would face the 'consequences' of it. 

Amidst claims of COVID-19 vaccines shortage in Maharashtra - a state which has been witnessing an exponential surge in daily cases - government sources have said that over one crore vaccine doses have been supplied to Maharashtra till date. While the actual number of doses supplied by the Health Ministry is 1,06,19,190, the number of inoculations is at 90,53,523, showing a deficit of 1,565,667 doses yet in-hand of the state to be administered. 

ANI sources have also informed that the supply of over 7,00,000 doses has been initiated by the Centre and shall be received by the Maharashtra government soon. The aforementioned figures have been corroborated by Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, who mentioned the same while countering the Maharashtra government's vaccine shortage claims. 

Harsh Vardhan debunks Maha govt's claims

Quashing the demand of state governments to open up vaccination for all, including Maharashtra, the Health Minister on Thursday presented a streamline of facts and figures to prove that the administrations have been unable to vaccinate the priority groups themselves. According to figures highlighted by the Health Minister, Maharashtra has vaccinated just only 86% of health workers with the first dose and 41% of healthcare workers with the second dose. 

Countering the Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope's claims of vaccine shortage in Maharashtra, the Union Health Minister said that these were attempts to divert attention from the Maharashtra government’s 'repeated failures to control the spread of pandemic.'

"The inability of Maharashtra government to act responsibly is beyond comprehension. To spread panic among the people is to compound the folly further. Vaccine supplies are being monitored on a real-time basis, and State governments are being apprised regularly about it. Allegations of vaccine shortage are utterly baseless. Throughout the last year, as the Health Minister of India, I have been a witness to the misgovernance and utter casual approach of the Maharashtra Government in battling the virus. The lackadaisical attitude of the state government has singularly bogged down the entire country’s efforts to fight the virus," Harsh Vardhan said.