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“Unacceptable”: Shashi Tharoor Slams Government’s Vaccine Policy From “Covid Sickbed”

In a nearly two-minute long video, Mr Tharoor stressed: “Save India from Covid. Make vaccines free for all.”

Congress leader and MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor, who is currently recovering after testing positive for coronavirus in April, today posted a video message that targeted the government’s vaccine policy. In a nearly two-minute long video, Mr Tharoor stressed: “Save India from Covid. Make vaccines free for all.”

The senior Congress leader hit out at the Modi government over its ambitious plan to vaccinate the entire country by the end of this year.

“As you can see, I am in bed, suffering the complications of a long Covid infection. I just want to say to everybody… having seen the government statement that everybody will be vaccinated by (the) end of December, while seeing the availability of vaccines or lack there of of the vaccines, I wonder how the government is going to get there.”

This comes after Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, last week, made it clear that India’s vaccination drive is on track while re-asserting that the government plans to vaccinate all the people by December.

“I support the Indian National Congress’s campaign for a massive change in the government’s policy to permit universal vaccination of all Indians within the promised deadline of December, and to do so free of cost,” Mr Tharoor said today.

Hitting out at the centre over differential pricing of Covid-19 vaccine, Mr Tharoor said: “It is unacceptable that this government should be demanding that states, private hospitals and others compete in some sort of market free for all to buy vaccines at different prices, extortionate prices in some cases, when the central government has an arrangement to buy vaccines at affordable prices and give them to the public for free. That was the policy at the beginning of the vaccination drive. ”

“Let us have a universal, free vaccination policy to save the nation from Covid. I have suffered a lot. I don’t want my fellow citizens to suffer even a fraction of what I have done, and certainly not to do worse than me as so many have as the tragedy unfolded in the country,” he said, refering to the massive second wave of infections unfolding in the country.

 

 

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