Rajasthan reported the highest percentage of Covid-19 vaccine wastage. According to a report by Hindi daily Patrika, a total of 11.5 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccine, which amounts to almost 7 per cent, has been wasted in the Congress-ruled state.
Though many districts in Rajasthan have reportedly wasted several doses of vaccines, the wastage rate recorded in Rajasthan’s Churu district stood the highest at 39.7 per cent, followed by Hanumangarh, where the waste per cent was recorded to be 24.60 per cent. Bharatpur stood at number three after it reported 17.13 per cent. Kota finished fourth with a 16.71 per cent of waste rate.
Questioning the sheer negligence of the Congress-led Government in Rajasthan, Union Minister and Jodhpur MP Gajendra Singh Shekhawat slammed CM Ashok Gehlot for the vaccine wastage which contributed to the crisis in the state.
“The Prime Minister is repeatedly saying that wasting a dose of Covid vaccine is like denying a life-saving net to a person, but how can one improve those who have developed a habit of playing with people’s lives?”, said Shekhawat questioning the state government as to who should be held responsible for this wastage of vaccine doses?
“This is more like a criminal act that cannot be ignored as it is a question of public lives”, he added.
“It is Gehlot’s responsibility to bring to book the offenders, or else let us assume that the Chief Minister himself is responsible for this,” Shekhawat said.
Wasting even a single dose means not being able to give a shield to a life: PM Modi urges states to stop wastage of Covid-19 vaccine
As the country reels under a shortage of doses, PM Narendra Modi on Thursday urged state officials to ensure minimal wastage of Covid-19 vaccines.
“There is an issue of vaccine wastage. Wasting even a single dose means not being able to give a shield to a life,” said the PM during his interaction with field officials and district magistrates from 10 states.
“When vaccines are delivered to you all, we must ensure there is no wastage. You all must monitor this in both urban and rural areas. Stopping vaccine wastage is critical and you all must ensure that we do not have any (wastage),” he added.
Congress runs a sinister anti-vaccine campaign
For the past few months, non-NDA parties, especially Congress and AAP have been playing petty politics over the Central government’s vaccination drive.
Congress, which has been persistently trying to milk the Covid-19 crisis to tarnish the image of the BJP government, has been running a sinister campaign against Indian vaccine makers while campaigning for much more costly vaccines made by foreign companies. One of the strategies employed by them was discrediting the indigenous Covaxin vaccine, developed by Bharat Biotech. The government had approved its emergency use in the month of January.
Using this as the primary tool for propaganda, Congress leaders such as Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, and Chhattisgarh health Minister TS Singh Deo trivialised the vaccination drive altogether. And, obviously, in all this, the leftist media has stood shoulder to shoulder with the Congress party, helping in accentuating the panic and vaccine hesitancy among people.
