Rahul Gandhi "doesn't read... doesn't understand", Dr Harsh Vardhan declared. (File)
Highlights
- Harsh Vardhan said he had tweeted facts on vaccination supply on Thursday
- Dr Vardhan said Congress must think of a leadership overhaul
- An hour earlier, Rahul Gandhi had posted that vaccines have not arrived
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan lashed out at Rahul Gandhi on Friday after the Congress MP questioned the centre (again) over the lack of Covid vaccine doses.
Declaring he had tweeted yesterday on supply for July, Dr Vardhan attacked Mr Gandhi for "not reading" and sidestepped any further discussion on vaccination by accusing him of "arrogance".
"Just yesterday, I put out facts on vaccine availability for the month of July. What is Rahul Gandhiji's problem? Does he not read? Does he not understand? There is no vaccine for the virus of arrogance and ignorance!! Congress must think of a leadership overhaul!" Dr Vardhan said.
An hour earlier, Mr Gandhi posted this one line in Hindi: "July has come, the vaccine has not arrived."
Mr Gandhi has been a vocal critic of the government and its vaccination policy.
Last week, he urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to end the shortage of doses; in response, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan accused him of spreading "confusion... lies".
Supply of vaccine doses continues to be a bone of contention between states and the centre, with some states still closing vaccination centres due to a lack of doses; last week Bengal said it would vaccinate only priority groups, and similar concerns were raised by Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
On Thursday, Dr Vardhan said 12 crore doses would be sent to states in July; it is unclear if this includes private hospitals - which states have asked to be reduced because of poor utilisation.
He also accused states of poor planning and use of available stocks; the centre has repeatedly said there are enough doses available and state governments are to blame for wastage.
The 12 crore for July, according to an affidavit filed with the Supreme Court, will consist of 10 crore Covishield doses and two crore Covaxin doses. This breaks down to 40 lakh doses a day.
Even if the amount is utilised - unlikely given a measure of vaccine hesitancy and wastage - it is lower than the target of one crore doses per day by mid-July, set a month ago.
The highest single-day vaccination record in India is around 88 lakh on June 21, the first day of the centre's new "liberalised" policy. That high was followed by a massive drop in the following days.
The centre also told the top court 135 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines will be available by December - vastly less than the Union Health Ministry's projection of around 200 crore.
The target - two union ministers and the centre have told the court - is to vaccinate all eligible beneficiaries in the country - around 108 crore people - by end-2021.
In May, the Serum Institute told the centre it could produce nine to 10 crore Covishield doses in June. Bharat Biotech said it would increase its output to 7.8 crore doses by August.
Other vaccines - like Russia's Sputnik V, the Moderna jab and the vaccine developed by Zydus Cadila have been cleared, or are in the process of being cleared.
But Sputnik has yet to be rolled out in large-enough doses and the other two are not yet available.
India has administered around 34 crore doses so far, but roughly only four per cent of the eligible population has received the mandatory two doses. In absolute numbers, the country this week surpassed the United States in numbers of doses administered.