Dr Harsh Vardhan, union health minister, said, "Deplorable attempts by some state governments to distract attention from their failures and spread panic among the people." Speaking over allegations of vaccine shortage, he said, "Allegations of vaccine shortage utterly baseless. Throughout last year as Union Health Min I've been witness to misgovernance and casual approach of Maharashtra government in battling virus. Their lackadaisical attitude singularly bogged down the country's efforts to fight the virus."