Halt Export, Open Vaccination To Everyone Who Needs It: Rahul To PM
Mumbai: Amid rising coronavirus cases, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wrote a letter to PM Narendra Modi asking him to halt the export of vaccine to other nations and to open “vaccination for everyone who needs it”.
Presenting his seven-point demands, the Congress leader said that the government should immediately ban vaccine exports and open vaccination to everyone who needs it. Other demands of the Congress leader include providing vaccine suppliers with the necessary resources to increase manufacturing capacity, fast-tracking the approval process of other vaccines as per norms and guidelines, increasing the allocation of ₹35,000 crores for vaccine procurement, as announced in Union Budget 2021, to double, allowing states a greater say in vaccine procurement and distribution, providing direct income support to the vulnerable sections.
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Gandhi wrote in his letter, “Historically, India has gained abundant experience in designing and executing some of the largest immunization programs in the world. Yet in the present case, we have managed to fully vaccinate less than 1% of the population in 3 months.”
Was the export of vaccines also an “oversight”, the Congress leader asked in his letter, referring to the order recently issued by the finance minister to cut the interest rate on small savings. The order was withdrawn a day after and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said it was an oversight.
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Questioning why state governments have not been empowered to purchase vaccines as per their requirement, the Congressman wrote, “Even though public health is a state subject, our states have been bypassed right from vaccine procurement to registration.”
Crediting his party for building India’s vaccine framework and making the country a vaccine hub, Rahul said the vaccination program has to move beyond “a picture of a person on a vaccine certificate, guaranteeing maximum immunization.”
The letter comes at a time when many states have complained of a lack of vaccination and on Friday, the vaccination campaign stopped at several vaccination centres in Mumbai. However, the Center dismissed these claims as “fear-mongering” and said the stocks were being replenished on a regular basis and there was no shortage of vaccines in any state.
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