Centre, Cong lock horns over Covid vaccination targets, booster jab

The Congress and the Centre were at loggerheads on Monday over COVID-19 vaccination targets, with senior leader of the opposition party P Chidambaram alleging confusion over the booster dose of the vaccines and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan hitting back at the grand old party for 'spreading disinformation.'

Former Union home minister Chidambaram lashed out at the government over the alleged sluggish pace of inoculation against the viral disease and claimed that the country will not achieve 100-per cent first-dose vaccination by December 31.

"Let's face the truth even if the government is unwilling to do so. Not all 94 crore adults will receive the first dose of vaccination before December 31. We will not achieve 100 per cent coverage. A very, very large number will not receive the second dose of vaccination," he said in a tweet.

Union education minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pradhan described Congress leaders as 'compulsive naysayers' who are out to 'seeding panic, creating fear and spreading disinformation.'

Chidambaram also alleged that the booster dose proposal is 'shrouded in confusion.'

"Which is the booster dose vaccine for Covishield? Not another dose of Covishield, I hope. The chicken have come home to roost. We are paying the price for delayed orders, delayed payment, non-licensing of Pfizer & Moderna, and insufficient production and supply," he tweeted.

Hitting out at Chidambaram, Pradhan said, "The sadist attitude of Congress and its coterie on every progressive step India takes never fails to surprise!"

"First, they misled people over safety of our homemade vaccines, stoked vaccine hesitancy and created panic by doubting the collective capability of our country," the minister said in the tweet.

"And, now when India is yet again taking proactive steps to effectively manage the Omicron variant, flower-pot-farmers and compulsive naysayers are doing what they are best at -- seeding panic, creating fear and spreading disinformation," he tweeted.

The minister noted that many developed countries are facing the brunt of Omicron despite depending upon the said vaccines.

"Also, Chidambaram ji, let me remind you it was the Congress government that sold vaccines for profit. Your intent to deceive will not derail India's fight against the pandemic," he wrote on Twitter.

The country had launched the COVID vaccination drive on January 16 and set a target to achieve 100 per cent vaccination for the first dose by December 31.

As on Monday afternoon, the country had administered 142.31 crore doses of COVID vaccines, with nearly 84 crore beneficiaries receiving the first dose and over 58 crore receiving both the jabs.