Who'll Get COVID-19 Vaccine First, Rahul Gandhi Asks PM Modi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi a flurry of questions in connection to the anticipated vaccine for the COVID-19, raising issues like funding, timing, and priority of candidates.

The former Congress President's queries on Twitter came in the backdrop of a spike in fresh COVID-19 cases from several states like Delhi and Gujarat in the past few days and also the expected arrival of a vaccine in the market as announced by Oxford University as well as drug-makers like Pfizer and Moderna.

The PM must tell the nation:
1. Of all the Covid vaccine candidates, which will GOI choose & why?
2. Who will get the vaccine first & what will be the distribution strategy?
3. Will PMCares fund be used to ensure free vaccination?
4. By when will all Indians be vaccinated?

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) November 23, 2020

His queries came a day after he criticised the central government's mishandling of the lockdown announced in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping India since January.

Modi Govt's unplanned lockdown pushed millions into poverty, jeopardised the health of citizens and compromised the future of students due to digital divide.

This is the bitter truth which GOI tries to cover up by its blatant lies. pic.twitter.com/lHm2s74riv

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) November 22, 2020

The Prime Minister had on Friday held a meeting to review the country''s vaccination strategy in which important issues related to the progress of COVID-19 vaccine development, regulatory approvals, and procurement were discussed, according to an ANI report.

He had also reviewed various issues like prioritisation of population groups, reaching out to healthcare workers, cold-chain infrastructure augmentation, and technological platform for vaccine rollout, the agency reported.

India's coronavirus tally crossed the 91 lakh mark by Sunday, with 44,059 fresh COVID-19 infections being reported, government data shows. Up to 511 people died of the disease, taking the overall death count to 1,33,738.

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre and all states to file within two days status reports detailing steps taken to deal with the current COVID-19 situation, noting that the pandemic has "worsened" and, in places Gujarat, the situation had "gone out of control".