Heinous crime to export vaccines when people dying here: Sisodia

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia Sunday attacked the Centre over the export of coronavirus vaccines, saying a large number of lives could have been saved in India if the doses were given to people in the country first.

"It's a heinous crime committed by the Central government to sell vaccines to other countries only for its image management at a time when people were dying in our own country," he told an online briefing.

Citing a newspaper report, Sisodia said the Centre sold coronavirus vaccines to 93 countries of which 60 per cent had COVID-19 under control, and also where there was no threat of loss of life due to the virus.

A large number of youths in the country perished to the coronavirus in the second wave of the pandemic, he said, adding their lives could have been saved if the vaccines were given to them instead of exporting the doses.

He said the Centre should now ensure that the vaccines manufactured in the country are provided to the states that are facing a shortage.

He reiterated the Delhi government can vaccinate everyone in the city within three months if adequate doses are made available to it.