Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on July 1 said “State leaders” should focus on planning COVID-19 vaccination drives, rather than “creating panic”.
In a series of tweets, he said he had seen “irresponsible statements from various leaders regarding the largest vaccine drive”. He said after the Centre started providing 75% of vaccines for free, vaccination sped up and 11.50 crore doses were given in June.
He said States had been informed in advance about the supplies for July. He said 12 crore doses would be supplied in July, not including private hospitals’ supply.
“If there are issues in States, it shows that they need to better plan their vaccination drives. Intra-State planning & logistics are the responsibility of the States. I request these leaders to desist from their shameless urge to play politics even in the midst of a pandemic.”
In another tweet, he said: “If these leaders are aware of these facts and are still giving such statements, I consider it most unfortunate. If they don’t know, they need to focus on governance. Will again request State leaders to spend more energies in planning and not in creating panic.”
