Hours after leftist media house NDTV claimed that the State of Rajasthan has urgently notified the Central government of its acute Coronavirus vaccine shortage, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) has debunked the false claim. On Tuesday, NDTV claimed on Twitter, “Rajasthan to Run out of Vaccines by Tomorrow”: State Sends SOS to Centre.”
Rajasthan has over 13.33 lac doses unused: PIB debunks fake news about Coronavirus vaccine shortage
In a statement, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) of the government of India has debunked the claim of Rajasthan running out of its vaccine supply by tomorrow. “The factual position is that there is no shortage of COVID19 vaccine with the State at present. Rajasthan has been supplied 37.61 lakh doses and has consumed only 24.28 lakh doses till yesterday night,” PIB clarified.
It further stated, “The Central government is regularly monitoring the availability of vaccine supply in all States and UTs, and providing the doses as per their requirement and consumption pattern.”
The myth of impending shortage of Coronavirus vaccine doses in the Congress-ruled Rajasthan was also debunked by DD News.
The Central government is regularly monitoring availability of vaccine supply in all States and UTs, and providing the doses as per their requirement and consumption pattern.@MoHFW_INDIA @PIB_India #CovidVaccines #LargestVaccineDrive
— DD News (@DDNewslive) March 9, 2021
NDTV issues clarification and a tale of contradictions
After being caught off guard, NDTV issued a clarification regarding the matter. While replying to the tweet by PIB accusing the leftist portal of spreading misinformation, it said, “NDTV reported the Rajasthan Health Minister’s comment. He said, “We have vaccines for three days….we asked for 60 lakh vaccines needed in March alone to continue the drive as is. If we don’t get vaccines, the drive could stop mid-way…”. Video attached.””
NDTV reported the Rajasthan Health Minister’s comment. He said, “We have vaccines for three days….we asked for 60 lakh vaccines needed in March alone to continue the drive as is. If we don’t get vaccines, the drive could stop mid-way…”. Video attached. pic.twitter.com/gC5KCmXnv1
— NDTV (@ndtv) March 9, 2021
The Congress-ruled state of Rajasthan has reported 1,883 active cases and 2,789 fatalities as of March 9, 2020. Contrary to the claims of the remaining 5.85 lac doses by the Rajasthan Health Minister Dr Raghu Sharma, PIB’s fact-check points out that the state has about 13.33 lac doses left. According to the NDTV report, the state is vaccinating 2.5 lac people each day. Given that a single dose is administered per person, even with the existing stock of 13.33 lac doses, Rajasthan can continue to vaccinate people at the same pace for over 5 days. Meanwhile, the Centre is monitoring the state closely and have already sent 85000 emergency Coronavirus doses.
