Govt has lost golden months in addressing the pandemic: Ghulam Nazi Azab in Rajya Sabha

Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azab hit out at the Centre on Thursday, saying the government lost the golden months in addressing the pandemic. 

While addressing the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, Azad made several suggestions on the coronavirus pandemic, saying, “The government lost the golden months in addressing this pandemic. We should have been alert as it was in our neighborhood (China) that mysterious pneumonia was being seen in December 2019.”

Azad said “the term social distancing should be done away with. It should be replaced with physical distancing.”

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Talking about COVID-19 vaccines, he said the government should be over-cautious about the efficiency of it as India has a “large and young population.” He added that the domestic manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines should be encouraged.

As of now, trials are going on for three vaccine candidates in India. The vaccine candidates are in phases I, II, and III of clinical trials. The Congress leader said, “We must be ready for the last-mile delivery of the vaccine; it should not be like the lockdown. We can’t waste time formulating the vaccination strategy later.”

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Azad said, “There should be dedicated infectious disease hospitals and fever clinics, instead of COVID-19 hospitals to reduce the stigma.”

Concluding his address, the Congress MP said, “Since hand-washing has multiplied due to coronavirus, the prices of soaps and sanitisers should be reduced.”