Malicious campaign against Covid vaccine fell flat, says UP CM Yogi Adityanath

After reviewing Covid preparedness in Ghaziabad during a visit to the district on Monday, chief minister Yogi Adityanath lauded the efforts of the government to ensure better “Covid management” during the first and second waves and said a “malicious campaign” against the Covid-19 vaccine by those opposing it had fallen flat.

Assembly elections will be held in Uttar Pradesh in seven phases, starting on February 10 when voting will be held in western UP. The CM on Monday inspected the L3 category facility of Santosh Medical College in Ghaziabad and also a nearby vaccination camp where he interacted with children (15-18 years).

“As part of our Covid management, we have been able to save the lives and means of livelihood of people. I visited Ghaziabad during the first and second Covid waves and I am here during the present third wave as well. There was a malicious campaign against the vaccine by people and it was a campaign against humanity. Such campaigns have fallen flat and everyone now recognises that the vaccine made in India is one of the finest,” Adityanath told reporters at Santosh Medical College.

He said the government has done its best in saving lives and also livelihoods.

“We imposed the night curfew from 10pm to 6am while schools and colleges have been shut till January 23. During this period, we have a target to complete the first dose vaccination of children as well as all other categories. Besides, we also plan to complete the precautionary dose for eligible beneficiaries. At present, Uttar Pradesh administers the highest number of vaccines,” Adityanath said.

He also said the first dose coverage in Ghaziabad is currently 98% (with a revised target) while the second dose coverage was about 69%.

“The patients admitted to hospitals during this wave is less than 1% of active cases. The third wave is less harmful as compared to the second wave. But it is a disease and we have to save children, women and senior citizens. For that, we have also installed 5,500 public address systems to give out public awareness messages. People should avoid going to crowded places. We are hopeful that we will be successful in controlling and saving lives and livelihoods during this third wave too,” the chief minister said.

On the other hand, the members of the opposition parties took a jibe over the “Covid management” of the BJP government and said the debacle over Covid will be a major factor in the elections.

The Congress leaders said the hardships people faced during the pandemic are still fresh in the minds of everyone.

“It is for the first time that people saw dead bodies floating in river Ganga and people even died on roads. There were tokens issued for cremation of dead bodies while people were running helter-skelter for oxygen. The migrant workers were out on roads, walking to their native places. So, everyone has seen how things were dealt with by the UP government during the pandemic,” said Dolly Sharma, member of All India Congress Committee and spokesperson of UP Congress Committee.

Others said almost every family suffered during the pandemic one way or the other.

“We have seen how people were lined up and running pillar to post for oxygen for their family and loved ones. During the past two waves, the people of UP suffered a lot and almost everyone has a tale of loss to tell. All these difficulties are fresh in the minds of people and their suffering will play a major role in these elections,” said Rashid Malik, district president, Samajwadi Party.

Adityanath, during his press briefing, also said the government, after the second wave, added about 550 new oxygen plants. Eleven of these plants are in Ghaziabad, he said.

According to the state control room figures, on Monday, the state had a total of 1,849,665 Covid-19 cases and 22,972 deaths. A total of 1,720,077 patients have been discharged after treatment while the number of active cases is 106,616.

The Ghaziabad district on Monday registered 1,301 fresh cases of Covid-19 which took the overall tally to 72,201. The number of active cases is 10,493, the district figures showed. The total cases in the month of January is at 16,287 which is the highest for any month since the start of the pandemic, the data showed.

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