APCC president S. Sailajanath on Tuesday blamed the BJP-led government at the Centre and the YSRCP government in the State for the alarming spread of COVID-19.
Addressing the media here, Mr. Sailajanath alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had failed to put in place a proper plan to battle the second wave of infections.
Mr. Modi, who claimed availability of the vaccine in abundance, failed to match the supply with the growing demand. The existing vaccine shortage reflected the shoddy handling of the pandemic, he said.
‘Ramp up production’
The manufacturers of the vaccine, Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech, were in need of more funds to boost production capacity as infections spread at a record speed, but the government did precious little to ramp up the production, he alleged.
The elections in various parts of the country had contributed to the rapid spread of the virus, he said. The Congress party had appealed in vain to the Election Commission and the Central Government to desist from holding elections when there was an upsurge in the caseload.
The result of it reflected in the multiplication of “positive” cases, creating a health emergency in the country, Mr. Sailajanath said, and alleged that “Mr. Modi and Mr. Jagan are concerned more about power rather than public health.”
Finding fault with the Centre, Mr. Sailajanath said it had given its nod for export of the vaccine to 80 nations without ensuring its adequate availability for people of the country.
The Congress leader demanded that the government ensure that every individual in the country was administered vaccine free of cost at the earliest.