On Tuesday, the Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, slamming the centre’s new vaccine policy and termed it as “hollow, without substance and a regrettable show” of responsibility evasion.
This came after the central government on Monday announced that everyone above the age of 18 years will be eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccination from the 1st of May. It said it is liberalising the vaccination drive to allow states, private hospitals and industrial establishments to procure the doses directly from manufacturers.
“I am informed that the central government has announced the much delayed universal vaccine policy on 19th April, which appears to be hollow, without substance and a regrettable show of evasion of responsibility by the central government at a time of crisis,” Mamata Banerjee wrote in the letter.
Mentioning her letter dated 24th February, she reminded the Prime Minister that she had requested his intervention to allow direct vaccine purchase for West Bengal with the use of state resources and give free vaccination to people of the state.
“No response was received from your end. Now when the number of cases in the second wave of Covid is spiralling like anything, the Centre has chosen to tactically indulge in empty rhetoric and shy away from its responsibility for making available vaccines to the people of the country,” Banerjee said in the letter.
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She also mentioned that the announcement failed to address some major issues like ensuring quality, efficacy and stable flow of supply of a required number of doses by the manufacturers and at what price they are to be purchased by the states.
She added that the number of vaccine doses needed are not available in the market and requested swift action on the same at the earliest.