Bengaluru: A medic administers a dose of Covid-19 vaccine to a beneficiary at a government vaccination centre
Highlights
- Total eight BJP-ruled states have fully vaccinated 50 per cent of their eligible population.
- Two BJP-ruled states have completed 100% vaccination.
- No such numbers have been achieved by any state ruled by the Congress and its allies.
Amid rising concern for the new Covid-19 variant 'Omicron', at least 7 BJP ruled states in the country have completed innoculating more than 90% of the eligible population with the first dose. Apart from this, total eight states have fully vaccinated 50 per cent of their eligible population, while two of these states have finished vaccinating 100% population.
No such numbers have been achieved by any state ruled by the Congress and its allies, official sources said Monday. With some Opposition-ruled states pushing for booster doses, sources said it was ironical as they have not been able to vaccinate enough people so far, in stark contrast to the performance of BJP-ruled states. They also wondered if politics has impacted the vaccination drive in these states.
Meanwhile, the Congress has questioned why India lacks behind China in terms of vaccination. Congress national spokesperson Gaurav Vallabh said, "Vaccination program started in the country from January 16. But in the last ten and a half months, only 31% of our population has been fully vaccinated, while in China 75% of the population has been given both doses. The question that arises is why are we so far behind China?"
BJP on the other hand has repeatedly accused Opposition parties of trying to politicize the drive and noted that some rival leaders had even initially questioned the government for its approval of two vaccines manufactured in India.
Here are some vaccination figures.
- Sources said the percentage of the population vaccinated with the first and both doses in Jharkhand is 66.2 and 30.8 and in Punjab 72.5 and 32.8 respectively.
- The corresponding figures for Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Chhattisgarh are 78.1 and 42.65, 80.11 and 42.5, and 83.2 and 47.2 respectively.
- It is 84.2 and 46.9 for Rajasthan while 86.6 and 39.4 for West Bengal respectively.
- The Congress is in power in Punjab, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan. It is part of the DMK-led ruling alliance in Tamil Nadu and the JMM-led government in Jharkhand. The Trinamool Congress, a key opposition party but not a Congress ally, is in power in Bengal.
- In contrast, BJP-ruled Himachal Pradesh and Goa have fully covered their eligible population with the first dose of Covid vaccine and 91.9 per cent and 87.9 percent people with both doses respectively.
- The corresponding percentage figures for Gujarat are 93.5 and 70.3, for Uttarakhand 93 and 61.7, for Madhya Pradesh 92.8 and 62.9, for Karnataka 90.9 and 59.1, for Haryana 90.04 and 48.3 and for Assam 88.9 and 50 respectively, sources said. It is 80.5 and 63.5 respectively for Tripura.
