Yogi Adityanath should take first shot of coronavirus vaccine to show it’s safe: Congress UP president

Ahead of the nationwide vaccination drive that is set to begin from January 16, Congress has once again raised the safety issue of the coronavirus vaccine. Today, Congress UP president Ajay Kumar Lallu asked Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to take the first shot of coronavirus vaccine so that there is no doubt in the minds of people in the state. “I urge Yogi Adityanath ji to begin the vaccination by getting himself vaccinated first so that there is no doubt in the minds of people in state,” Lallu said.

On Wednesday, senior Congress leader Manish Tewari had raised the safety issues with one of the two vaccines approved by the Centre. Speaking to ANI, Tewari said that Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin was licensed by government for emergency use. “But now government is saying that the recipient won’t be able to pick and choose the vaccine which he is administered to. When phase 3 trials of Covaxin is not complete, it raises various concerns on its efficacy,” he said.

The former minister further said that the government should not roll out Covaxin till its efficacy and reliability was completely established and phase 3 trials were over. “It should act in a manner whereby there is complete confidence in people. You can’t use rollout as phase 3 trial, Indians are not guinea pigs,” Manish Tewari said.

Earlier, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said that he won’t take vaccine manufactured by the BJP. One Samajawadi Party leader even said that the vaccine may make people “impotent”. RJD’s Tej Pratap Yadav recently said that he will take vaccine only after Prime Miister Modi has taken it.

The government has repeatedly said that both the vaccines are safe and people should not have any doubts about their safety. The Centre has approved two vaccines, Covishield of Oxford AstraZeneca and Covaxin of Bharat Biotech.

From Saturday, the Centre will begin vbaccine drive across the country. In the first stage, healthcare and frontline workers will be vaccinated. After this, priority will be given to those above 50 years of age and the under-50 population groups with co-morbidities, together numbering around 27 crore.