New Delhi, Apr 7 (UNI) The Congress on Wednesday pulled up the BJP-led NDA government, saying it is not fully geared up and not doing enough to stem the spread of coronavirus.
Addressing a press conference, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said, 'Our scientists have discovered the corona vaccine but we are lagging far behind other countries in inoculation.
About 55 per cent of total population has been vaccinated in Britain, about 50 per cent in the US, more than 17 per cent in Germany and more than ten percent of the population in Brazil, but only 5.2 per cent in India, he claimed.
Stressing for opening the vaccination for all, he said: "Vaccine is the right of every Indian. Like polio vaccination was for everyone and the government ran a universal vaccination drive, this also has to be universal and for everyone.
He expressed concern over vaccine wastage of 17.6 per cent and 9.4 per cent in states like Telangana and Uttar Pradesh respectively that surpassed the national average.
'The government itself says that there is an atmosphere of fear in the public about the vaccine. The government is not able to tell how long the vaccine will be effective. Many people are getting infected with corona even after being vaccinated, the government has no answer to all these questions, ' he said.
'The government did not prepare properly to deal with the corona and is being negligent in vaccination, causing vaccine wastage. The government says that six percent of the vaccine is being wasted and the reason is that the government did not assess how much vaccine would be needed,' he said.
He suggested that coronavirus guidelines should be followed at election rallies too and every citizen of the country should follow the rules laid down to deal with corona.
He assured that the Congress party stands with the government to deal with this pandemic but it needs to work in a systematic and planned way to ward off the virus.
The Congress leader said that number of infections in India has surpassed both the US and Brazil and stands at number one position in terms of the highest number of daily new cases.
'During the the first wave of the virus, India recorded 97,894 cases during its peak on September 17, 2020, but on Wednesday, we surpassed that and reported 1,15,736 infections, he said.
The Congress leader also dubbed as "insensitive" a remark made by the health secretary who said that the vaccine will be made available to "those who need it and not those who want it".
UNI SV GK 2058