'Useless Statements': Health Min Slams States Flagging Vaccine Paucity

Various state governments have written to the Centre, claiming vaccine paucity, amid concerns of a third wave.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya claimed: "Useless statements are being made only to create panic among the people." Image used for representational purposes. 

(Image altered by The Quint)

Reacting to reports and letters by state governments alleging vaccine shortage, the newly-appointed Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday, 14 July, claimed:

"Useless statements are being made only to create panic among the people."

Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Health Minister

He also said, in a series of tweets, that the situation can be better understood by an "actual analysis" of facts.

(Screenshot Courtesy: Mansukh Mandaviya/Twitter)

(Screenshot Courtesy: Mansukh Mandaviya/Twitter)

WHAT ELSE DID MANDAVIYA SAY?

Mandaviya, in his tweets, claimed:

• To enable vaccination through government and private hospitals, 11.46 crore vaccine doses were made available to the state governments and Union Territories in the month of June and 13.50 crore in July.

• The Centre had updated the states on 19 June, 27 June, and 13 July, about the status of available vaccines, for batch-wise distribution.

Further, shifting blame for the vaccine crisis being reported from different parts of the country, Mandaviya said:

"If the Center is already giving this information in advance on its behalf and yet we see mismanagement and long queues of vaccine takers, then it is very clear what the problem is and who is the reason for it."

He also claimed:

"The leaders who make statements invoking confusion and concern in the media need to introspect whether they have gone so far away from the governance process and related information that they are not aware of the information already being provided in the context of vaccine supply."

STATES SEEKING MORE JABS

Various state governments, some repeatedly so, have written to the centre, lamenting inadequate supply of vaccine from the Centre. These letters and warnings come amid concerns of a third wave of COVID-19 infection.

The states reporting vaccine-paucity and seeking more jabs in a bid to inoculate a significant chunk of the population, before the third wave sets in, include:

• Tamil Nadu

• Delhi

• Maharashtra

• Bengal

• Punjab

• Jharkhand