Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya debunks allegations of vaccine shortage

Following a series of statements on vaccine shortage by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, health minister Mansukh Mandaviya took to Twitter to dispel supply fears and said state governments were informed about vaccines a fortnight in advance.

Mandaviya debunked allegations of vaccine shortage and said 114.6 million doses were available in June and the supply has been enhanced to 135 million in the month of July. “Based on the discussion with manufacturers, the health ministry had informed all states/UTs on June 19 regarding number of doses of the vaccine to be made available in July. Subsequently, on June 27 and July 13, the states were also informed in advance about the availability of vaccines every day for the first and second fortnight of July. This was done so that states are aware of the time and quantity of doses and thereby plan the vaccination drive in a better and effective manner,” Mandaviya said in a series of tweets.

He said despite giving advance information to states on the vaccine availability, “if mismanagement and long queues of vaccination beneficiaries are being seen, it is clearly evident what the real issue is and who is responsible for this state of affairs”. The statement comes after repeated tweets by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi alleging a shortage. Mandaviya said: “Persons who are making statements in the media, that are creating misinformation and panic in the people, need to introspect whether they have distanced themselves so much from governance processes and the related information being given to them, that they are not even aware of the correct advance information been provided regarding availability of vaccines.”