COVID-19: Chorus for free vaccine grows
Opposition leaders write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on this issue even as Mamata Banerjee threatens agitation if the Centre does not pay for the vaccines for all in the country
The demand for free vaccines for everyone in the country got a boost on May 2 with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee demanding just after her landslide victory in West Bengal assembly polls that the Centre pays for the inoculation drive of everybody in this country. Earlier in the day, 13 Opposition leaders wrote to the Prime Minister placing the same demand.
Her voice added to the growing chorus of different state governments in the country.
Mamata to agitate
“I demand that the Centre pays for the vaccination of all. Else, I shall start an agitation at the base of the Gandhi statue on Kolkata,” said Mamata Banerjee on Sunday evening as she led her party to a landslide victory in the state for the third time since 2011.
“How much does it cost? Rs 30,000 crore. It is a small amount for the central government,” added the Bengal chief minister. Just after the landslide victory in Bengal for the third time, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee dared central government to distribute the COVID vaccine free of cost.
United Opposition
Earlier on Sunday in a joint statement, 13 opposition leaders also called upon the Centre to give free vaccines to all 130 crore people of India and ensure uninterrupted oxygen supply to all hospitals and health centres as they struggled to manage staggering patient loads.
The signatories included Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, NCP leader Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee, Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, DMK chief MK Stalin, BSP supremo Mayawati, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav.
Left leaders D Raja of CPI and Sitaram Yechury of CPI(M) also signed the letter, which was addressed to the PM.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, meanwhile, congratulated Mamata and assured support.
Congratulations to Mamata Didi for @AITCofficial‘s win in West Bengal. The Centre will continue to extend all possible support to the West Bengal Government to fulfil people’s aspirations and also to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic. @MamataOfficial
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 2, 2021
Cost meter
Though the Centre is getting the vaccines for Rs 150 a dose, the states are paying more – Rs 300 for Covishield and Rs 400 for Covaxin.
Incidentally, at private hospitals, patients are being charged around Rs 600 for Covishield and around Rs 1,200 for a jab of Covaxin.