“Govt Unpreparedness Alarming”: Rahul On Vaccine Strategy

FILE PHOTO: The BJP said the Congress leader has been shown the door from the only place he was active

The government lacks a “fair and inclusive Covid vaccine access strategy” to deal with the pandemic which has affected over 33 lakh people in the country, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said in his latest attack on the Centre over the virus situation in the country.

Gandhi said that the government’s “unpreparedness” in dealing with the crisis was alarming. India has the third-highest coronavirus caseload in the world after the United States and Brazil.

The senior Congress leader’s comments were in response to a tweet he shared on August 14 in which he had asked the government to spell out its strategy once the vaccine is available for distribution. The Congress MP from Kerala’s Wayanad had then demanded that the government clearly define an inclusive and equitable vaccine access policy to ensure its affordability and fair distribution.

The Congress leader has targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi almost daily amid a spike in COVID-19 infections.

Hours after India crossed 20 lakh coronavirus cases, Gandhi had shared an old tweet from his timeline, hinting that he was right in predicting the country would pass the grim mark before August 10.

On July 17, when India had crossed 10 lakh COVID-19 cases, the former Congress chief had said that the country would record another 10 lakh cases by August 10.

The Congress leader has been sharing news reports, talking to experts and making sharp comments on the national economy as he repeatedly claims the government has failed in controlling the outbreak.

However, the BJP has dismissed the claims saying Gandhi has “limited understanding of Covid”.

On August 27, India reported 75,760 cases of COVID-19, marking the biggest daily rise in the country. The fresh cases have pushed the country’s coronavirus tally to 33,10,234 cases, Union Health Ministry data shows.

Since August 4, India is on the top in the daily figure of COVID-19 cases, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). The country has also reported the highest number of deaths for the second consecutive day.

Human trials on various COVID-19 vaccines are currently being carried out across the world, including in India.