Kolkata: Holding the Centre responsible for the rapid spread of Covid-19 during the second wave, the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Baner...
Kolkata: Holding the Centre responsible for the rapid spread of Covid-19 during the second wave, the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should immediately get Covaxin authorised by the World Health Organization (WHO) or else suggest a remedy for the recipients of the vaccine who are facing problems to travel abroad.
Calling the BJP a “big disease for everyone” she said, “People took
Covaxin on the suggestion of the Centre and now the latter should take responsibility
for the problems these people are facing. Students who are set to join foreign
universities are in deep trouble as Covaxin is not authorised by the WHO yet.
What should these students do now? They cannot take another vaccine as they
have already taken Covaxin.”
“Either the Centre should get Covaxin authenticated at once by the WHO,
or suggest a remedy to this problem. It is for the Government of India to take
some initiative. Even Bangladesh and Brazil are facing problems. This problem
needs to be sorted out immediately,” Banerjee said at Nabanna after reviewing the
overall Covid situation in the state.
When asked to respond to BJP chief J.P. Nadda’s allegation that the Opposition
is doing politics over the vaccination drive, the CM said, “The BJP government
is fully responsible for the disaster of the second wave as it failed to take adequate
measures to combat the wave. How can he say this now? Does’nt he understand
that it was because of their negligence that the situation has deteriorated?
They didn’t allow people to take precautions before the second wave.”
She also said that the state government will do everything possible to
counter a possible third wave of the pandemic.
“As per experts, children might be the most affected in case a third
wave breaks out, so we need to ensure the health of mothers so that they are
able to keep their children safe. We are taking all the necessary measures to
combat a possible third wave,” she said.
The state government plans to have 1,300 paediatric ICUs, 350 SNCUs and
10,000 general beds for paediatric and women patients in all government
hospitals by July. Requisite infrastructure too has been planned to cater to
the additional demand for oxygen, she added.
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