Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday refuted the allegations of the Opposition BJP that 11.50 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the State had been wasted. “The BJP is trying to bring down the morale of frontline workers by spreading lies and creating confusion among the public,” he said.
Mr. Gehlot pointed out that as many as 1.63 crore people had been vaccinated in Rajasthan as of May 26. “Of them, 3.38 lakh doses have got wasted, which is just 2% of the total number of vaccines. This is much lower than the national average of 6% wastage, while the Centre has set the limit at 10%,” he tweeted.
Mr. Gehlot accused the BJP of indulging in “politics of lies and deceit” during the pandemic and said the party was making “deliberate attempts” to mislead the public at large. He asked BJP leaders in the State to instead put pressure on the Centre to supply more doses to make the vaccination drive successful.
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Referring to the issue of vaccine wastage raised in other States, Mr. Gehlot said it was alleged earlier that 30.2% vaccines in Chhattisgarh and 37.3% in Jharkhand had been wasted, while the Chief Ministers of the two States had reported wastage of only 0.95% and 4.65%, respectively.
Mr. Gehlot once again urged the Union government to ensure the supply of vaccines in sufficient quantity for the people of 18 to 44 years of age to avoid repeated closure of vaccination centres in different States. Rajasthan has so far received 14.94 lakh doses for this age group and administered the jabs to 15.07 lakh beneficiaries by utilising extra doses in the vials.