Youth Congress plans ‘Give us the vaccine’ campaign in Dakshina Kannada

MANGALURU: Youth Congress in Dakshina Kannada district will launch ‘Give us the vaccine’ campaign demanding shots for youths, villagers and the poor.
District Youth Congress president Luqman Bantwal told reporters here on Tuesday that the government has failed in the vaccination drive. “The supply of vaccines should be made available for the poor. But the BJP government has adopted a policy that ensures vaccines only to the rich. It has stopped vaccinating those in the 18-44 age group, while private hospitals are selling it,” he said, adding that Youth Congress members in the district will campaign under the slogan ‘Give us the vaccine’.
“Vaccination is a major weapon to fight the virus. But the government has failed on many fronts. The vaccine pricing policy that allows companies to fix prices for their vaccines itself is anti-people. It will also lead to corruption and those deserving from the poor strata of society will be deprived of it,” he said, adding that the faulty vaccination policy of the central government has led to the second wave of the pandemic.
Former MLC Ivan D’Souza said the government should ensure supply of vaccines to public health centres, instead of insisting people to go to private hospitals for vaccination. “The health department should understand that Covid-19 cases can be reduced by 50% through vaccination. The department should think of launching a door-to-door vaccination drive,” he added.