Hyderabad, April 15, 2021: Former Minister & ex-Leader of Opposition in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir has blamed the BJP Government at the Centre and TRS Govt in Telangana for the huge shortage of Covid vaccine.
“Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao are busy with election campaigns. Their only focus is on winning elections at any cost. They are least concerned about the deteriorating conditions due to the rising number of Covid-19 cases. They appear to have no clue on the huge shortage of vaccines which is bound to worsen the Covid situation,” Shabbir Ali said in a media statement on Thursday.
Shabbir Ali pointed out that those who took the first dose of Covaxin and Covishield need to take the second dose within the specified time interval. As per the guidelines prescribed by the Union Ministry of Health, the second dose of Covaxin can be taken within four to six weeks after the first. Similarly, the second dose of Covishield must be taken within six to eight weeks from the first dose. The ministry has clearly stated that both doses should be taken within the recommended time period for stronger immunity and both doses must be of the same vaccine type. However, he said that lakhs of people who took the first dose were bound to miss the deadline for the second dose due to a huge shortage.
Citing his own example, Shabbir Ali said he took the first dose of Covaxin on March 13 and he was supposed to get the second dose on April 11. “When I enquired with the Apollo Hospitals, Jubilee Hills, where I took the first dose, I was told that the vaccine was unavailable. I was also asked to check for the availability of Covaxin with other hospitals. But no other hospital had the supplies of the Covaxin. Finally, today I was informed that as against the requirement of 900 doses, they got the supplies of 200 doses. Therefore, they were administering the doses on a first-come-first-serve basis. Therefore, I got my second dose of vaccine with just two days left for the end of the deadline,” he informed.
Shabbir Ali said that the situation in government vaccination centres was even worse due to shortage. While lakhs of people are in the queue to get the vaccine, the supplies are not even in the thousands. “Why did PM Modi and CM KCR not anticipate this situation? They give their 100% when it comes to winning the election. But when it comes to saving people’s lives, they don’t adopt a humanitarian approach,” he said.
The Congress leader also slammed the BJP Govt at the Centre for taking a delayed decision in approving the other vaccines. “When Congress leader Rahul Gandhi suggested that other vaccines, which got approval in other countries, should be permitted in India, BJP leaders not only criticised him but also asked whether he would get a commission from those vaccine companies. Ultimately, the BJP Govt has approved all those vaccines. Now BJP leaders should clarify how much commission they got by permitting those vaccines in the country,” he asked.
Shabbir Ali advised CM KCR to stop thinking about politics for a while and start concentrating on saving people’s lives from Coronavirus.