'PR event': Congress slams dip in vaccinations

The Congress on Wednesday attacked the government over the dip in vaccination numbers after a record high earlier this week with former party chief Rahul Gandhi saying the country is not safe unless vaccination is done on a large scale but sadly the government is "unable to move beyond a PR event".

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also lashed out at the Centre over the dip in the number of vaccinations after India achieved a "historic milestone" of administering 88.09 lakh coronavirus vaccine doses in a single day on June 21. The numbers dipped to over 53.4 lakh on Tuesday.

"The Delta variant (of coronavirus) is knocking on the doors of the country. Only 3.6 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated but the PM has taken on the role of EM event manager," Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

After patting his own back, the vaccinations saw a drop of 40 per cent the next day, the Congress general secretary said.

"Formula of record vaccination...Madhya Pradesh, June 20: 692 vaccine doses administered, June 21: 16,91,967, June 22: 4,825," Priyanka Gandhi said.

"Collected vaccines, used it in a single day for event, then a dip the next day. For administering vaccines to all adults by December, 80-90 lakh vaccine doses will have to be administered daily," she said.

Rahul Gandhi said unless coronavirus vaccination is done on a large scale continuously, "our country is not safe".

"Sadly, the central government is not able to move beyond a PR event," the former Congress chief said in a tweet in Hindi.

In a tweet, senior Congress spokesperson P Chidambaram said, "Look at the numbers for MP, Karnataka and Haryana on Sunday to Tuesday. BJP governments pulling a rabbit out of a hat! Pure magic for a day!"

He tagged a media report on the vaccine doses administered in various states, showing the dip in numbers after the record high on Monday.

"Watch UP and Gujarat numbers for a few more days," Chidambaram added.

"I am appalled that eminent doctors attribute Monday's record to 'planning'. The plan was to 'doctor' the numbers on Monday," the former Union minister alleged.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh also highlighted the Madhya Pradesh vaccination numbers for the last three days to attack the government and asked "who are we trying to fool".

Attacking the government, Chidambaram had said on Wednesday, "Hoard on Sunday, vaccinate on Monday, and go back to limping on Tuesday. That is the secret behind the world 'record' of vaccinations on a 'single day'."

"I am sure the 'feat' will find a place in the Guinness book of records! Who knows, there may be a Nobel Prize for Medicine awarded to the Modi government," he had said.