'Hue & cry by states over partisanship by Centre in vaccine distribution farce': Harsh Vardhan

He said these state governments are making this an issue to hide their own incompetence in controlling the spread of the virus.

In a tweet, Harsh Vardhan wrote: "Hue and cry by certain states about partisanship by the Union Government is just a farce, an attempt to hide their own incompetence. Maharashtra and Rajasthan are two of the top three States based on allocation of COVID-19 Vaccine doses. Both are non-BJP governed states."

Stating that there is no partisanship to allocate vaccine between BJP-ruled states and those governed by opposition parties, Harsh Vardhan also provided statistics to show vaccine distribution to Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajashtan.

As per the figures shared, Maharashtra received the highest vaccines at 1,06,19,190 followed by Gujarat and Rajasthan.

However, Maharashtra, which is the worst-hit state by the virus, says it has received only around 7.4 lakh vaccines of the 350 lakh doses the Centre procured from Pune-based Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech.

Maharashtra's Satara even stopped vaccination against Covid-19 on late Wednesday night after district authorities ran out of doses, media reports said quoting Vinay Gouda, the Chief Executive Officer of the Satara Zilla Parishad.

State Health Minister Rajesh Tope alleged discrimination by the Centre in comparison to states ruled by the BJP.

Tope said Maharashtra needed 40 lakh doses a week and 1.6 crore vaccines a month.

He said most districts in the state will have no stock left to vaccinate people after April 10.

Earlier, Harsh Vardhan had said there is no vaccines shortage and such "irresponsible statements mislead the public and spread pandemic."

He had in fact blamed the "lackadaisical attitude" of the Maharashtra government that had singularly diluted the entire country's efforts to fight the virus.

In an attempt to set the record straight, a furious Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday said: "I am constrained to speak out now because my silence should not be misconstrued for weakness. Playing politics is easy, but improving governance and health infrastructure is the real test."

"The inability of Maharashtra government to act responsibly is beyond comprehension. To spread panic among the people is to compound the folly further," he had added, dismissing the issue of vaccine shortage as "baseless".