Haryana CM rebuts Arvind Kejriwal's 'vaccine shortage' charge; rakes up Delhi comparison

Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday hit out at his Delhi counterpart for repeatedly crying foul over the shortage of COVID-19 vaccines in the national capital. Highlighting that health is a state subject, he stated that the Centre's role was merely restricted to rendering assistance whenever required. Countering the AAP chief, Khattar asserted that Delhi had received the most number of vaccines in the country in terms of the per million population.

Moreover, he revealed that Haryana had received fewer vaccines as compared to the national capital despite the former having a larger population. Stressing that Delhi cannot get the stock meant for the entire country, he called upon the AAP government to rationalise the vaccination programme to ensure that the stock lasts for a longer period of time. According to the Haryana CM, Kejriwal was needlessly indulging in politics during the pandemic. 

"Even though the pandemic has arrived, Health is a state subject. Similarly, many other departments are also the prerogative of the states. The Centre merely plays the role of a facilitator providing assistance whenever needed. Till now, all vaccine doses have been supplied by the Centre. The population of Delhi is 2 crore. Our population is 2.90 crore. If you look at the ratio, Delhi has received 51 lakh doses. We should have received 74-75 lakh (doses) but we have received 58 lakh." Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar remarked. 

He added, "We can also finish our stock by vaccinating two lakh persons in a day. But we know the stock which we are getting. We can manage the stock if we inoculate 50,000-60,000 persons daily. Arvind Kejriwal should have this sense. But he continues to indulge in politics. Nobody should play politics during a pandemic." 

COVID-19 situation in Delhi

At present, there are 12,100 active novel coronavirus cases in Delhi while 13,89,341 patients have been discharged and 24,151 deaths have been reported. The vaccination for the 18-44 age group has been temporarily halted owing to a paucity of vaccines. The Delhi CM has repeatedly demanded that the Union government should negotiate with the foreign vaccine manufacturers, procure the necessary stock and them distribute the vaccines among states. A total of 41,57,813 persons have been inoculated in the city whereas 12,04,294 of them have received the second dose of the vaccine too. 

Speaking on May 29, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said, "This is not the time for finger-pointing. This is not the time for debate and counter. The country is suffering from a pandemic. The experience of the entire world shows that vaccination is the sole solution for this. So they (Centre) should buy vaccines for the entire country and distribute them to the state governments. We will administer them. Why are they debating over this is beyond my understanding?"