'When will India's turn come', asks Rahul Gandhi; slams govt for not starting COVID-19 vaccine drive

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a dig at Prime Minister Naredra Modi on Wednesday. The MP slammed Modi for not beginning the COVID-19 vaccination drive in India.

Gandhi said on twitter, "23 lakh people in the world have already received Covid vaccinations. China, US, UK, Russia have started... India ka number kab ayegaa, Modi ji? (When will India's turn come)"

India is yet to approve a vaccine for its vaccination drive but reports suggest that the government could approve the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine by next week. India is also considering Bharat Biotech and Pfizer's vaccine for emergency use authorisation.

Earlier, the Union health minister, Harsh Vardhan said after due consultations with experts, the Centre has put 30 crore people on high-priority list. These include health care workers, police officers on COVID duty, military and sanitation staff. Besides the frontline workers, people above the age of 50 years and those suffering from certain diseases are also on the government's priority list.

He also said that Indians will get the coronavirus vaccine in January while stressing that safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been the Centre's first priority.The US has authorised the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech and the Moderna coronavirus vaccines. American President-elect Joe Biden took a shot of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine on live television to boost the public's confidence on the vaccine.

The UKhas authorised use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine with 130,000 people administered the shot within the first week of the vaccination drive. However, that country is now grappling with a new variant of the virus which is 70% more contagious than the previous one.

While Russia has deployed its Sputnik V vaccine to protect its citizens against COVID-19, China is administering Sinopharm's coronavirus jab on its people.

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