Congress on Tuesday launched an attack on the BJP government at the Centre after AstraZeneca, a British pharmaceutical giant admitted that its Covid-19 vaccine can result in a rare side effect known as Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS).
The Congress mounted an attack on the government asking the government if it did take donations from the company manufacturing the vaccine through electoral bond scheme and also if it will order a probe on it or not.
Slamming the government, Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, who is also party’s Karnataka’s unit incharge in a post on X said, “It is a bitter truth that after Covid, thousands and lakhs of cases of ‘heart attack’ and ‘brain stroke’ have come to light, where a healthy person died and the family kept wondering what happened, although there was no problem.
He also asked people to look around to find how there are dozens of such cases.
Firing salvos at the government, Surjewala said, “Will the Modi government, which got praise for its ‘free vaccine’ advertisements, answer now? Will the vaccine manufacturing company be investigated? Will there be a scientific analysis of its truth?”
“Did the BJP take crores of rupees in the form of “Electoral Bonds” from this vaccine manufacturing company?” Surjewala questioned.
Even Congress Andhra Pradesh incharge Manickam Tagore slammed the government over the Covishield vaccine row and said, “Given recent revelations about potential side effects of the CoviShield vaccine, with over 1.74 billion doses administered in India, it’s imperative that the Union Health Secretary issues a detailed statement addressing concerns and outlining measures to ensure public safety.”
“Transparency and accountability are paramount in maintaining trust in our vaccination efforts,” he said tagging the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Indian Youth Congress chief Srinivas BV slammed the government and in a post on X said, “In a UK court, the company that made the Covishield vaccine admitted that the vaccine made by them can cause a rare side effect TTS, which causes blood clots and increases the chances of heart attack and brain hemorrhage.”
Taking a swipe at the BJP government, he asked, “Where is the Thank You Modi ji banner now? Why are the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and Health Ministry silent? Is this the reason why deaths due to heart attack at young age occur? Was this the reason why BJP took electoral bonds worth Rs 50 crore from Serum Institute?”
He also said that “this is not a matter of politics but of people’s lives”.
“The Prime Minister who shamelessly takes credit for the vaccine will have to answer. Because more than half of India’s population has been administered AstraZeneca’s Covishield,” the IYC leader added.
This vaccine was extensively administered throughout India during the Covid-19 pandemic.