Vardhan hits out at Maha over vaccine shortage
New Delhi: Hitting out at Maharashtra and some other states, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday alleged them of trying to cover their "failures" and spreading panic among people by demanding vaccination of all without inoculating enough of eligible beneficiaries.
He further said that statements made by public representatives in Maharashtra about the shortage of vaccines were "nothing but an attempt to divert attention from Maharashtra government's repeated failures to control the spread of pandemic".
Asserting that allegation of vaccine shortage are utterly baseless, Vardhan said that Maharashtra's "testing is not up to the mark and their contact tracing leaves a lot to be desired".
In a strong statement, he said, "It is shocking to see how the state Government is putting Maharashtrians in danger by letting people escape institutional quarantine mandate for the sake of their personal Vasuli. Overall, as the state has lurched from one crisis to another, it seems as if the state leadership is happily sleeping at the wheels."
About Chhattisgarh, he said regular comments have been made by leaders from the state "that are intended to spread misinformation and panic on vaccination".
"I would like to humbly state that it would be better if the state government focuses its energies on ramping up their health infrastructure rather than on petty politicking," Vardhan said while flagging "disproportionately higher number of deaths in the last 2-3 weeks' in the state.
The minister also said that the state's testing remains heavily dependent on rapid antigen tests that is not a wise strategy, and many other states also need to bring their healthcare systems up to the mark.
"For example, quality of testing needs to improve in Karnataka, Rajasthan and Gujarat. In Punjab, high case fatality rate needs to be improved by early identification of those needing hospitalisation," he said.
Vardhan further said, "When states ask to open up vaccine supplies to everyone over 18, we must presume that they have done saturation coverage of healthcare workers, frontline workers and senior citizens. But the facts are altogether different as Maharashtra has vaccinated just only 86 per cent of health workers with the first dose, while the equivalent numbers for Delhi and Punjab are 72 per cent and 64 per cent."
