'Devil in details': Siddaramaiah disputes vaccination milestone claims

As the country completed 100 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses on Thursday, Congress leader Siddaramaiah asked why the BJP leaders are celebrating “when only 21 per cent of the population has been jabbed till date”.

The former Karnataka chief minister tweeted: ‘1 billion doses’ sounds fancy number but the devil is in the details. Only 29 Cr people out of 139Cr are fully vaccinated, which means only about 21% are fully vaccinated. What are @BJP4India leaders celebrating for? For vaccinatimg just 21% of the population?”

Siddaramaiah shot a series of tweets to coincide with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s congratulatory message to the country for hitting the 100-crore mark.

“Only 29 Cr people have got two-doses & 42 Cr have got one dose, leaving 62 Cr without any single dose of vaccine. With just 29 Cr (21%) people fully vaccinated, India’s position is still in danger,” Siddaramaiah said in another tweet, tagging Prime Minister Modi.

“India still needs about 106 Cr doses to fully vaccinate the target by 31st Dec. This means 1.51 doses have to be administered every day. Is India prepared to handle this load & ensure all Indians are fully vaccinated by this year end?” he further tweeted.

The Congress leader compared India’s situation with that of US and China. “In US – 56% population are fully vaccinated, in China it is 70%, in Canada it is 71%. But India’s fully vaccined coverage is just 21%,” he said.

Also read: 2.50 cr or 2.18 cr doses on PM’s birthday? Data doesn’t match up

“Let us raise the bar before celebrating!!” he added.

“There may be a need for booster dose too & with even 1st doses & 2nd doses pending for large population, can we even think of booster dose? Let us put a hold to the celebrations & concentrate on vaccinating everyone,” Siddaramaiah said.