Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pathuri Nagabhushanam, who was appointed in-charge of the party’s COVID-19 cell for Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam and East and West Godavari districts, demanded that the State government immediately procure vaccines by paying an estimated ₹1,600 crore in advance.
“For a government that spent ₹85,000 crore on welfare schemes in the last two years, purchasing the much-needed vaccines at a cost of ₹1,600 crore should not be an issue,” he said.
Addressing reporters here on Wednesday, Mr. Nagabhushanam said that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had given a commitment of administering the COVID vaccine to three crore people aged between 18 and 45 free of cost, but now seemed to be content with only writing letters to the Prime Minister instead of taking concrete action even as a huge number of people aged above 45 who had taken their first dose were struggling to get the second one.
Mr. Nagabhushanam insisted that the government take urgent steps to improve the functioning of the 104 helpline to help those in distress, and close wine shops which he said were contributing to a rapid spread of the pandemic.
“The Centre is doing all it can — supplying medicines, vaccines, injections and oxygen — to help the States in tiding over the crisis. On their part, people should break the chain of transmission by staying indoors and following COVID protocols,” Mr. Nagabhushanam said.
