New Delhi: Amid the shortage of Covid-19 vaccines in the country, Congress demanded the Central Government to increase the manufacturing capacity of vaccines so that every citizen of the country could be inoculated.
While addressing a press conference, Congress leader and former Union Minister Rajeev Shukla took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he should focus more on inoculating people on a war footing rather than concentrating on his image building.
"The first consignment of Sputnik V landed in Hyderabad almost a month ago. But, it has not yet come into the market. The same happened with Pfizer. What is the current status? The Central Government must issue a white paper on its vaccine strategy as to how many vaccines have been procured and how many are in the pipeline," the Congress leader said.
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He added, "I would urge the Prime Minister to take it on an emergency basis. He should speak to all the Chief Ministers on the vaccination programme and this should be taken up on a war footing. Only then can a solution be found and the chain broken."
He asserted that a number of experts have suggested that around 90 lakh people have to be vaccinated daily to break the chain of the virus, but the current vaccination rate is very slow. At this pace, it will take years to vaccinate the entire population of India. He also urged the government to make the vaccines available in the open market, claiming that if this wouldn't be broken, the third wave will be "imminent".
Shukla also raised his concern over the rising cases of Covid-19 in the rural areas, highlighting that there is already a lack of adequate health infrastructure in the villages.
On the issue of black fungus, he said, "We haven't got rid of one disease and another is awaiting. So, both the Centre and state governments should work together and start preparing to tackle this disease by consulting the hospitals and make available the antifungal drugs as per their needs."
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