The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday peddled vaccine statistics that could only ever be considered unadulterated garbage. Despite spreading blatant fake news, Twitter is yet to add a label to the fdalse claims being made.
In a video statement released by the party, AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj claims that 88% of the people in the United Kingdom have received the vaccine and the same is 84% for the United States of America. The number for India he cited was 13%.
These numbers cited by the AAP are patently false, engineered to cast the ruling dispensation at the centre in poor light.
UK Vaccine Stats
In the United Kingdom, a total of 37,943,681 first doses of the vaccine have been administered thus far as per the government website. Calculating the percentage given that the population of UK is 6.6 crores, 57.49% of the population has received at least the first dose of the vaccine.
A total of 22,643,417 doses of the vaccine has been administered, which indicates that 34.30% of the population has been fully vaccinated. It also indicates that 72% of total adults have received the first dose of the vaccine and 43% have received the second dose as well.
Furthermore, vaccination has not been opened up for all adults in the United Kingdom. Currently, vaccination has not been opened up for those under 34 years of age in England, under 25 in Northern Ireland and under 30 in Scotland. In Wales, it has been opened up for adults in most areas.
Thus, the figure of 88% that the Aam Aadmi party has come up with is a figment of their own imagination.
USA Vaccine Stats
In USA, 49.2% of the population has received at least the first dose of the vaccine. 49.6% of adults have been fully vaccinated and the figure is 73.9% for those above 65 years of age. A total of 39.2% of the population has been fully vaccinated.
It is a far cry from the 84% as claimed by the AAP MLA. Even if we assume that Saurabh Bharadwaj meant that the 84% figure represents the stats among the eligible, even then it is simply not correct.
India vaccine stats
India has administered a total of 15,29,30,249 first doses in the country so far. Assuming that the Indian population is 125 crores, it translates to at least to 12.23% of the population having received at least the first dose of the vaccine.
Given that India has a far larger population than the USA and UK both, it is only natural that India will take longer to vaccinate its entire population. The USA has an estimated population of 32.82 crores and the UK’s population is only 6.6 crores as of 2019. Quite clearly, AAP is attempting to play petty politics over the Covid-19 vaccination drive.