Congress terms govt’s ‘buy the dose’ step cynical

By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: With vaccine manufacturers Pfizer and Moderna refusing to deal with state governments, the Congress on Monday attacked the Centre, saying that the Modi government allowing states to procure vaccine was a cynical move, considering that  these vaccines have not been approved for use in the country.Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said vaccination is the key to controlling the pandemic, but the government of India does not seem to care about it. “Vaccination is the key to controlling the pandemic but GOI doesn’t seem to care. Why doesn’t the Central government understand this simple fact?” he tweeted and posted a graphic chart to show how vaccination has substantially come down from April.

Former Union minister P Chidambaram also slammed the Centre for asking states to directly negotiate with vaccine producers. “Is there any surprise that Pfizer and Moderna have refused to deal with states (Punjab, Delhi) and will deal only with the Central government? The Central government’s direction to the states to procure vaccines directly from the manufacturers abroad was a cynical move. If Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have not yet been ‘approved for use’ by the Central government, how will they deal with or sell to the states?” he asked.

The former Union minister from Chennai further said that the BJP government has rebuffed their advice and the suggestion of the courts that procurement of vaccines must be centralised. “The Modi government is callous and cruel. Meanwhile, the shortage of vaccines will continue and the people of the country will suffer and thousands will die. What a tragedy!” added Chidambaram. This seems to have become the latest topic of heated debate between the leaders of Congress and BJP, who are loggerheads as usual.

Punjab govt asks Centre to intervene
Punjab is staring at a shortage of vaccines. After Moderna, Pfizer on Monday refused to send vaccines directly to the state government. The Punjab  government has written to the Centre to ask these companies to supply vaccines to the state government. Till date, 45.03 lakh doses were supplied to the state by the Centre. The state bought another 4.29 lakh doses.