Mansukh Mandaviya Following Same Path As His Predecessor: P Chidambaram

Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday slammed newly appointed Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya over the vaccine shortage and said he is following the same path as his predecessor.

Taking to Twitter former the finance minister said people standing in line have to return home without vaccination after the centres ran out of vaccines.

"New health minister @mansukhmandviya is following the same path as its predecessor. It is a pity. State after state is complaining of a vaccine shortage. Vaccination centers have "no vaccine" boards. People standing in line have to return home after the vaccination centres run out of vaccines," said Congress leader.

"Are all the state health ministers complaining about the shortage of vaccines lying? Are people being turned away in newspaper and TV news because there is no vaccine dose, the news are fake? The conclusion is that the public is being fooled between the Center and the states," he added.

Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Mandaviya denied the claims of vaccine shortage and said for July the availability of doses has been increased to 13.50 crore.

The health minister said "Useless statements are being made only to create panic among the people."

Meanwhile, many states such as Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha have reported shortages in COVID-19 vaccines.