Punjab government profiteering by selling vaccine doses to private hospitals: BJP

The BJP on Friday alleged that the Congress government in Punjab was profiteering by selling Covid-19 vaccines to the public at a premium.

Referring to media reports that claimed that the Punjab government has allegedly sold some vaccines out of those procured under the state quota to private hospitals at a higher rate, Union minister Prakash Javadekar accused the Amarinder Singh dispensation of “making a profit” from vaccination.

“It’s dangerous news. They (Punjab government) got over 1.40 lakh doses of Covaxin at Rs 400 each. They gave some of the vaccines to 20 private hospitals at Rs 1,000 each. The state government wants to make a profit from the vaccination…What kind of government is it?” Javadekar said.

Pointing out that the Centre has so far given a total of 22 crore vaccines to states free-of-cost, the minister said, “They should pay attention to their management so that people of Punjab get relief. This is the demand and expectation of the people today.”

Javadekar also took a swipe at the Congress for the internal troubles within the Punjab unit. “Today, the entire (Congress) party and the government of Punjab are in Delhi. Who will look after Punjab? Ignoring Punjab for their internal fight… This is a big sin of Congress,” he said.