NEW DELHI: Newly appointed Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday hit out at states for mismanaging the covid vaccination drive and also rubbished their claims of shortage and slow availability of vaccines.
In a series of six tweets, Mandaviya debunked such allegations, saying that the claims were not based on facts and intended to create panic among people.
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He said to enable a robust vaccination programme, the Centre had made available 11.46 crore doses to state governments and union territories in June which was increased to 13.50 crore doses in July. States were also informed in advance about the availability of doses.
"Despite giving advance information to states on vaccine availability, if mismanagement and long queues of vaccination beneficiaries are being seen, it is clearly evident what the real issue is and who is responsible for this state of affairs," Mandaviya said in one of his tweets.
The tweets came after several states such as Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Delhi complained of vaccine shortage. Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Monday had tweeted about shortage of vaccines in the national capital.
Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin on Tuesday reached out to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a special allocation of 1 crore doses to the state, alleging shortage of vaccine. Telangana’s many government-run vaccination centres have reportedly also been witnessing shortages, and Kerala as well.
Punjab's health minister Balbir Singh Sidhu recently said that a mismatch in supply and demand of vaccines has slowed down the pace of immunisation in the state.
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