Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday hit out at the allegations of vaccine shortage in Maharashtra, saying they are “completely baseless” and a “deplorable attempt” to “distract attention” from their failure to control the spread the COVID-19 pandemic in the state. 

“The performance of Maharashtra government in terms of vaccinating healthcare workers and frontline workers is also not great. It is shocking to see how the state Government is putting Maharashtrians in danger by letting people escape institutional quarantine mandate for the sake of their ‘personal Vasuli’,” Vardhan said in a statement. 

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He further stated that the “misgovernance and casual approach” of the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government has “singularly bogged down country’s efforts to fight virus”.

“The inability of Maharashtra government to act responsibly is beyong comprehension,” Vardhan said, adding that the vaccine supplies are being monitored on a real-time basis and that state governments are being apprised about it regularly. 

Maharashtra’s testing is not up to the mark and their contact traing “leaves a lot to be desired”, the health minister said, adding that “the state has lurched from one crisis to another, as if the state leadership is happily sleeping at the wheels”.

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Slamming Chhattisgarh leaders for spreading misinformation and panic on vaccination, Vardhan said the state’s testing remains heavily dependent on rapid antigen, which he said was not a wise strategy.

He also said Chhattisgarh, owing to their refusal to use the indegenously-produced Covaxin, has the “dubious distinction of being perhaps the only government in the world to have incited vaccine hesitancy”. 

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He said that many states, including Karnataka, Rajasthan and Gujarat, need to bring their testing up to the mark while Punjab needs to improve its Case Fatality Rate by identifying those who need early hospitalisation. 

“It would be better if the state government focusses its energies on ramping up their health infrastructure rather than on petty politicking,” Vardhan said.