Hue and cry by certain states about partisanship by the Government is just a farce, Harsh Vardhan said.
A row over vaccines between the centre and some states intensified today as Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan blasted what he called "hue and cry by certain states about partisanship" as "farce" and an attempt to hide their own incompetence.
The Union Health Minister tweeted after states like Maharashtra alleged that they had been allotted fewer doses of vaccine than required for the population size.
"Hue and cry by certain states about partisanship by the Union Government is just a farce, an attempt to hide their own incompetence. Maharashtra and Rajasthan are two of the top three States based on allocation of COVID-19 Vaccine doses. Both are non-BJP governed states," tweeted Harsh Vardhan.
Maharashtra, which has the highest caseload in the second Covid wave, says it has received only around 7.4 lakh vaccines of the 350 lakh doses the centre procured from vaccine-makers Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech. The number is disproportionate to its 12 crore population, state Health Minister Rajesh Tope said, alleging discrimination compared to states ruled by the BJP.
Mr Tope said Maharashtra needed 40 lakh doses a week and 1.6 crore vaccines a month. "Maharashtra has double the population of Gujarat. Gujarat has got one crore doses and we have got one crore doses," he said.
"Maharashtra was provided only 7.43 lakh out of 350 lakh doses, considering our population it seems very skewed. Haryana gets more than 20 lakh. All these supplies were to be delivered after April 15. Most Districts will have no stock After April 10. Already Satara has stopped vaccination. Sangli will stop after today," said the minister.
He claimed that after he "made a lot of noise", the centre increased Maharashtra's allocation from 7.43 to 17.43 lakh doses.