Asserting India is in the end game of the COVID-19 pandemic, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said politics should be kept out of the ongoing vaccination drive to succeed at this stage.
“We need to follow 3 steps: Keep politics out of the COVID-19 vaccination drive, trust the science behind COVID-19 vaccines, and ensure our near and dear ones get vaccinated on time,” said Harsh Vardhan.
The Health Minister informed the Centre has already involved private players in COVID-19 vaccination and said the hospitals can conduct vaccination 24x7 if they want.
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“My request to everyone is that just like people embraced 'Jan Andolan for COVID-19 appropriate behaviour', they should embrace Jan Andolan for COVID-19 vaccination and get all COVID-19 vaccine shots whenever they are eligible,” he said.
The Union Minister said so far over 2 crore vaccine shots have been administered, adding the vaccination rate has been increased to 15 lakhs per day.
“Unlike most other countries, we have a steady supply of COVID-19 vaccines that are safe with proven immunogenicity and efficacy. Based on the initial results, these Made in India vaccines have shown some of the lowest adverse events following immunization (AEFI) anywhere in the world,” PTI quoted Harsh Vardhan as saying while speaking at the Delhi Medical Association’s 62nd Annual Delhi State Medical Conference (MEDICON 2021) in collaboration with the Dharamshila Narayana Hospital.
Asserting India cannot be safe from coronavirus if rest of the world continues to be unsafe, the Health Minister said it is, therefore, essential to curb COVID-19 vaccine nationalism.
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“If poor and underdeveloped countries continue to harbour the novel coronavirus, we shall not be able to ensure safety for all. A fair and equitable distribution of the vaccine is the biggest need of the hour,” he added.
The Health Minister further said India has emerged as the world’s pharmacy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, adding the nation supplied 5.51 crore COVID-19 vaccines to 62 different countries.
“It was Modi ji's insistence that COVID-19 vaccines should be provided with no strings attached, and the countries without the vaccine supply should not be taken advantage of at the time of a global humanitarian crisis,” he added.