The Congress on Sunday said that over 36.5 crore eligible Indians were yet to be fully vaccinated against Covid and wondered what had happened to the government’s assertion in the Supreme Court that it intended to complete the exercise for all adult citizens by December 31.
Congress communications chief Randeep Surjewala cited government data to say that at least 11.45 crore people above the age of 18 hadn’t received even a single Covid jab so far.
He thanked the country’s frontline workers for helping Covid patients but attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying frequent television appearances to make lofty claims wouldn’t lessen the people’s pain.
Quoting the latest official figures, the Congress spokesperson said: “Over 22.71 lakh health workers have not got the second dose. India is still in 19th position in the world in terms of completely vaccinating the population.”
He added: “New categories (the 15-to-18 age group) were added yesterday and booster doses have been planned for the 60-plus population (who have co-morbidities). Where are the vaccines? Can the Prime Minister give a deadline?”
Surjewala wondered why no vaccination had been planned for children below 15 years.
“Many countries are vaccinating children above three years. While children are themselves at risk, there is a danger of children coming back from school to infect the elderly at home,” he said.
Surjewala said that studies by reputable institutions had suggested that 45-50 lakh people had died of Covid in India. The country’s official Covid death toll is less than 5 lakh.
“Why is the government not giving compensation to the families? On the other hand, the government is ill-prepared for the omicron threat,” he said.
“The government should learn from the second wave experience and be prepared to help the people better this time.”
The Congress ran a social media campaign on Sunday accusing the Modi government of not taking the omicron threat seriously.
However, some party leaders are also suspicious of the Centre’s sudden emphasis on Covid, sniffing in it a ploy to postpone the impending Assembly elections. Reports from the ground suggest the BJP could find it tough in many of the five poll-bound states.
Uttarakhand Congress leader Harish Rawat expressed fear that the elections might be put off and demanded the exercise be completed in time with full observance of the Covid protocol.
An appeal by an Allahabad High Court judge to postpone the elections has triggered speculation about the possibility.
Some BJP leaders too have been saying that people’s lives are more important than elections — a consideration the party had seemed to ignore during the vitriolic Bengal poll campaign in the summer amid the disastrous second wave of the pandemic.
In Bihar last year, the Congress and the RJD had formally requested the Election Commission to postpone the Assembly elections but to no avail.