Covid-19 second-wave states ask for extra vaccines, Centre accuses them of enjoying politics

The coordinated Covid-19 battle plan between the Centre and states got here beneath pressure Wednesday when the Union Health Ministry, being pushed by a number of states to produce extra vaccine doses and open up the vaccination course of to all people above the age of 18, reacted sharply, accusing the second-wave surge states of “politicizing” a public well being concern and “spreading lies”, and of not doing sufficient when it comes to testing, contact tracing and ramping up the well being infrastructure.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, who got here down closely on Maharashtra, Delhi and Punjab, the states contributing most to the second surge of Covid-19 instances, mentioned they have been “trying to divert attention from their poor vaccination efforts by just continuously shifting the goalposts”. Yet he acknowledged, in an official assertion, that “the supply of vaccines remains limited” and as long as the state of affairs continues, “there is no option but to prioritize” age teams within the nation.

His remarks got here a day forward of an all-important assembly of the Prime Minister with the Chief Ministers scheduled Thursday.
Also Wednesday, Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla, in an interview printed within the Business Standard, mentioned SII has sought “a few thousand crores” as grant from the federal government to double the manufacturing of Covishield. “If the funds come, we are ready to deliver double the quantity of vaccines within two months,” he mentioned.

Senior authorities sources, nonetheless, mentioned: “There is no provision for a grant. What are given, and what firms ask for, are advance payments. These are then adjusted against vaccines supplied. It straightens liquidity position. But we don’t know whether the firm has asked for it.”
The Centre made one other announcement on the eve of the PM-CMs assembly — the launch of office vaccination centres throughout the nation from April 11.
The Health Minister, in his assertion, slammed Chhattisgarh for refusing to make use of Covaxin and for “being perhaps the only government in the world to have incited vaccine hesitancy”.
He mentioned “quality of testing needs to improve in Karnataka, Rajasthan and Gujarat”.
Reiterating the Centre’s stand that the “primary aim of vaccination” is to “reduce mortality among the most vulnerable people”, Harsh Vardhan mentioned: “So long as the supply of vaccines remains limited, there is no option but to prioritize. This is also established practice around the world, and is well known to all state governments.” Targeting Maharashtra, he mentioned there have been “deplorable attempts by some state governments to distract attention from their failures” and “spread panic among the people”.
“Maharashtra government needs to do a lot more to control the pandemic and the Central Government will help them in all possible ways. But focusing all their energies on playing politics and spreading lies to create panic is not going to help the people of Maharashtra,” he mentioned.

On reviews of vaccine scarcity, he identified that states are being up to date concerning the demand-supply dynamics on vaccines.
“The Government of India has been frequently and transparently updating all the State governments about the demand-supply dynamics and the resultant vaccination strategy that has been adopted. In fact, the vaccination strategy has been drawn up after extensive deliberations and consultations in partnership with all State governments,” he mentioned.
He particularly rejected reviews on vaccine scarcity from Maharashtra. “This is nothing but an attempt to divert attention from Maharashtra government’s repeated failures to control the spread of pandemic. The inability of the Maharashtra government to act responsibly is beyond comprehension. To spread panic among the people is to compound the folly further. Vaccine supplies are being monitored on a real-time basis, and State governments are being apprised regularly about it. Allegations of vaccine shortage are utterly baseless,” he mentioned.

Union Cabinet Minister Prakash Javadekar, in a tweet, launched information on vaccine provides to Maharashtra: “Maharashtra Govt should not play politics over vaccination. Here are the facts: Total number of COVID vaccine supplied to State till date — 1,06,19,190; Consumption — 90,53,523 (of which 6% wastage — over 5L) Vaccine in pipeline — 7,43,280. Dosage available — nearly 23 lakhs.”

Central Govt replenishes extra vaccine than what is required for precise use.
— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) April 7, 2021
Harsh Vardhan criticised Maharashtra, Punjab and Delhi over their poor vaccination protection among the many precedence teams. “When states ask to open up vaccine supplies to everyone over 18, we must presume that they have done saturation coverage of healthcare workers, frontline workers and senior citizens. But the facts are altogether different,” he mentioned.
He mentioned Maharashtra has vaccinated solely 86 per cent and 46 per cent of well being staff with first dose and second dose respectively; Delhi has vaccinated 72 per cent and 41 per cent of well being staff with first and second dose respectively; and Punjab has vaccinated 64 per cent and 27 per cent of well being staff with first and second dose, respectively.
“On the other hand, 10 Indian states/UTs have done more than 90% (first dose to health workers)… There are 12 Indian states/UTs that have done more than 60% (second dose to health workers),” Harsh Vardhan mentioned.
He additionally flagged low protection amongst senior residents in these states. “When it comes to senior citizens, Maharashtra has vaccinated just 25%, Delhi has vaccinated 30%; Punjab has vaccinated only 13%. There are 4 states/UTs that have already vaccinated more than 50%,” he mentioned.
“Doesn’t it seem evident that these states are trying to divert attention from their poor vaccination efforts by just continuously shifting the goal-posts? Politicizing such a public health issue is a damning indictment of certain political leaders who should know better,” he mentioned.

The Health Minister mentioned the “lackadaisical attitude” of the Maharashtra authorities has “singularly bogged down the entire country’s efforts to fight the virus”.
“Today, Maharashtra not only has the highest cases and deaths in the country but also has one of the highest test positivity rates in the world! Their testing is not up to the mark and their contact tracing leaves a lot to be desired,” he mentioned.
Hitting out at Chhattisgarh, he mentioned the state ought to focus its power on ramping up its well being infrastructure. “…we have seen regular comments by leaders from Chhattisgarh that are intended to spread misinformation and panic on vaccination. I would like to humbly state that it would be better if the state government focuses its energies on ramping up their health infrastructure rather than on petty politicking. Chhattisgarh has seen a disproportionately higher number of deaths in the last 2-3 weeks. Their testing remains heavily dependent on rapid antigen tests which is not a wise strategy,” he mentioned.
“The state Government in fact refused to use Covaxin despite it being given Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the Drug Controller of India. Not only this, by its actions, the leaders of the state government have the dubious distinction of being perhaps the only government in the world to have incited vaccine hesitancy,” he mentioned.