AAP govt ordered 1.34 crore vaccines but Centre cleared only 3.5 lakh in May: Manish Sisodia

Sisodia lashed out at the BJP, saying its government was selling vaccines abroad when people were dying in the country

Amid fight for oxygen, the Delhi government has now opened another battle-front with the Centre on Covid-19 vaccines with Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday saying that the Narendra Modi dispensation has allotted only 3.5 lakh doses of Covishield and Covaxin in May while it had placed orders for 1.34 crore doses with manufacturers.

The first salvo was fired by Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain earlier in the day when he said there is "acute shortage" of vaccines in the capital and they have just one day's stock left for Covaxin and 3-4 day's stock for Covishield.

The remarks by Sisodia and Jain came a day after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan to direct vaccine manufacturers Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech to increase their monthly supplies to Delhi to 60 lakh doses per month during May-July so that the capital could achieve the target of vaccinating all in three months.

Also read: 'Instead of vaccinating people, AAP busy advertising': BJP hits out at Kejriwal govt over Covid-19 crisis

On Sunday, Sisodia had targeted the Centre saying the vaccine allocation for Delhi reflected how the Centre does not value the lives of younger generations.

AAP also fielded its MLA Atishi with a 'vaccine bulletin', like the way it made another lawmaker Raghav Chadha regularly issue 'oxygen bulletin' on video every day to highlight shortage of oxygen.

In a digital address, Sisodia attacked the BJP saying it was practising "politics of lies" and falsely accusing it of ordering only 5.5 lakh doses only.

He said the Kejriwal government ordered 1.34 crore doses for the people in the 18-44 age group after the Centre allowed states to directly place orders with vaccine manufacturers.

Tweeting the copies of the letter, he said the Centre has now told them that Delhi can have only 3.5 lakh doses in May. According to the letter by the Union Health Ministry, Delhi government can buy 2,67,690 doses of Covishield and 92,840 doses of Covaxin directly from the manufacturers.

Charging the BJP government with holding Kumbh Mela and conducting Assembly polls amid the second wave of Covid-19, he alleged that the Modi dispensation was more interested in selling vaccines abroad than providing it to state governments.

Jain said, "Delhi is facing an acute shortage of vaccines. For Covaxin, we have stock only for one day left, and for Covishield, only 3-4 days’ stock is available. We really want the entire population of Delhi to be vaccinated and are conducting a mass vaccination drive," Jain said.

Delhi has so far received 5.5 lakh doses of coronavirus vaccines for the 18-44 category, and over 43 lakh doses for 45-plus, and healthcare and front-line workers as on Sunday.

In his letter on Sunday, Kejriwal said that 38,96,551 vaccines have been inoculated to the people of Delhi, out of which 30,35,279 people have been given the first and 8.61 lakh people have received the second dose.

He said 1.5 crore out of 2 crore people in the capital are above 18 years and they would need three crore doses. However, the capital has received only 50 lakh so far and it would need another 2.5 crore doses.

Kejriwal pointed out that Delhi would need an additional 71 lakh doses to complete the vaccination of around 57 lakh people above 45 years.

"To complete it (vaccination) in three months, we would need 23 lakh doses per month from the Government of India during the three months of May to July," he wrote.

Separately, he also urged the Centre to direct Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech to increase their monthly supplies to Delhi to 60 lakh doses per month during May to July.

On Sunday Sisodia said, "When it was time for our youth to get vaccinated, Delhi Government opened centres all across the capital but the Centre administered only 5.5 lakh vaccines for the youth and 6.5 crore vaccine for other nations. These numbers reflect how our Centre doesn’t value the lives of our younger generations."

"How there is value in life for people in India. If other nations, countries like Canada, US gathered enough vaccines and prioritised vaccinating their own citizens first, then why did India fall behind? No other nation, except for France, exported vaccines to other countries before fully vaccinating its own people. France only exported 1 lakh doses internationally after it accumulated doses for itself," he added.