Rajasthan Health Minister slams COVID vaccine politics; says 'not the time to question it'

Discussing the phased vaccination drive in Rajasthan, state Health Minister Raghu Sharma on Sunday urged people to trust the COVID-19 vaccine, stressing that it was 'not the time to question' it. 

"We should trust vaccines. When the Government of India is providing vaccines, I don't think there arises any reason for unnecessary questions. Trials have also been conducted. When PM himself held a meeting with everyone, I don't think it's time to question vaccines," said the Rajasthan Health Minister. 

The Congress minister also revealed that about 4.5 lakh people would be vaccinated as a part of the first phase of the inoculation drive in the state. "We expect to vaccinate around 4.5 lakhs people in the first phase of vaccination in the state. So far, we have trained more than 18,000 people," he said. 

The Health Minister's comments come as opposition parties across India, including the Congress, express their refusal to get inoculated displaying mistrust in the Coronavirus vaccine and terming it as 'BJP's vaccine'. 

Read: Nationwide COVID-19 Vaccination Drive On Jan 16: Here's How To Register & All Details

Read: BJP's Patra Unsparing On Congress Over Vaccine Politics, Fires Salvo At Akhilesh Yadav

Opposition's vaccine politics

After Subject Expert Committee (SEC)'s nod to Covisheiled and Covaxin, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said "I will not get vaccinated - that too on BJP's vaccine (COVID-19), as I don't trust it," at a press conference in Lucknow. Thereafter, party member Ashutosh Sinha came forward with an even more bizarre claim saying that vaccines can "make someone impotent"'. 

Meanwhile, Congress leaders like Shashi Tharoor and Jairam Ramesh have questioned why Covaxin has been approved while Phase-3 trials are still underway with the government modifying 'internationally accepted protocols'. On this AIIMS Director, Randeep Guleria had clarified that Covaxin has only been approved as a 'backup' in case there is a surge in the cases, keeping in mind the UK and Africa variant.

Meanwhile, the Centre is all set to kickstart the COVID-19 vaccination drive from January 16 across India. As per the Union Government, priority will be given to nearly 3 crore healthcare and frontline workers in the vaccination drive, who would be inoculated first before the vaccine is made available to the general public.

(with inputs from ANI)

Read: Union Minister Patel Slams Akhilesh Yadav, Says 'tendency To Find Poison In Nectar'

Read:AIIMS Director Allays Fear Over COVID Jabs, Discusses Priority List For Vaccination Drive