Irony is a small word, but often very powerful and eloquent. Prophets of doom may not look for cover, but come out with new spins and tweets.
Change the goal post !
But the 100 crore vaccination target is no small achievement in India. It is a more satisfying achievement actually due to more reasons than one.
“Aaj ekis October, 2021…Itihas mein darj ho gaya (Today’s achievement has ensured a permanent place for 21st October, 2021 in the pages of history),” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said joyfully and in a tone of personal satisfaction. He has reasons for the same.
Firstly, the gigantic size of the country. At times, there were opposition-ruled states who did not take the Vaccination drive on a mission mode for initial months. Then the political skepticism that resulted in vaccination hesitation among a large section of people too.
In January 2021 when vaccination started with health workers, I was in Tripura. CPI-M-backed skeptics said – “take it no problem, it could be glucose water”. In the cow belt, Akhilesh Yadav was making his statements and so did the likes of intellectual Indian politicians – Shashi Tharoor and Jairam Ramesh. Rahul Gandhi’s tweets were also there in different shapes and varieties.
But, what counts in the ultimate analysis is the results, and that came hard way bringing in smiles on the face of millions of health workers, the stakeholders in pharma companies and of course other stakeholders in the government and country’s health system.
“Congratulations, PM Narendra Modi, the scientists, health workers & people of India, on your efforts to protect the vulnerable populations from COVID19 and achieve vaccine equity targets,” tweeted Tedros A. Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) giving
a global pat on the back of those Indians who worked for this momentous occasion.
Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur sums up the national mood aptly when he says, “I congratulate everyone for achieving 100 crore vaccination mark. We achieved it despite an atmosphere of apprehensions”.
Union Health Minister Mansukhbhai Mandaviya on Thursday launched a song and audio-visual film to celebrate the major milestone of achieving the 100 crore Covid-19 vaccination mark.
J P Nadda, BJP national chief, too was glad. : “India has achieved 100 crore COVID19 vaccinations in less than 10 months. This shows our government’s commitment towards the health safety of every person in the country. I extend heartfelt thanks to PM Modi and express gratitude towards healthcare & frontline workers,” said Nadda, who was also Union Health Minister in Modi 1.0 for sometime.
“Bharat Biotech is proud to have contributed to this historic landmark. This is a unified effort of the Govt, vaccine manufacturers, healthcare workers and all the vaccinated citizens, making it a true success story of Atmanirbharta,” said Dr Krishna Ella, Chairman MD NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant too was enthusiastic about the achievement.
“Seeing scale and size we’ve achieved it in less time. It’s a result of our collective effort. Out of 100 crore vaccination doses, 30-35 crore are double doses-more than the population of countries like Indonesia, US; shows India as a vaccination capital”.
Announcements were made in airports, railway stations and elsewhere. The achievement finally shows any determined effort is bound to bring in a satisfactory outcome.
Not long back, Union Minister and BJP leader Hardeep Singh Puri had directed his ire against the Congress party for abusing vaccines including dumping them in Rajasthan.
Citing the data of Covid-19 vaccination in Punjab, Puri had said the figures showed that the Congress dispensation in the northern state indulged in profiteering by overcharging for the vaccines.
One dose of Covishield vaccine, which costs ₹309, has been sold at ₹1,560 through private hospitals, Puri alleged.
Prior to that there were leaders such as Akhilesh Yadav, a former UP CM and Samajwadi chief. He had called the vaccines ‘Bhajpa (BJP) vaccines’ saying he will not take the shot.
Very few top Congress leaders including the likes of Rahul Gandhi have been seen photographed or videographed with vaccine jabs. Mamata Banerjee-ruled West Bengal had vaccine scam and even a Trinamool MP was supposedly ‘trapped’ to take a fake jab.
The police arrested one Debanjan Deb on June 23 for allegedly posing as an IAS officer and organising a COVID-19 vaccination camp, Oh Bengal, true Bengalis !!
But in the CWC meet lately, Sonia Gandhi claimed most Congress leaders have been ‘vaccinated’.
