Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Chouhan decides against getting COVID-19 vaccine right away, here's why

Just a day after Drugs Controller General of India approved Covishield and Covaxin for emergency use against COVID-19, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday (January 4) said that he will not get vaccine right away. Chouhan added that the people under the priority groups should get the vaccine first and his turn should come after them.

“I have decided that I will not get vaccinated for now. First it should be administered to others. My turn should come afterwards. We have to work to ensure that priority groups are administered with the vaccine,” the MP CM said, according to news agency ANI.

The DCGI on Sunday approved two coronavirus vaccines, one developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and the other by Bharat Biotech for emergency use in India.

Hours after the DCGI approval, senior Congress leaders Anand Sharma, Shashi Tharoor and Jairam Ramesh targeted the DCGI for granting approval to Covaxin saying that the result of the third trial of the vaccine is not known and it is 'dangerous' to give emergency use authorisation to the vaccine without proper data.

Senior BJP leaders Hardeep Singh Puri and senior BJP leader JP Nadda slammed the Congress for raising questions over DCGI's decision saying that the Congress' opposition is filled with anger and disdain against Indian scientists.

In a tweet, Puri said, “Our in-house cynics M/s Jairam, Tharoor & Akhilesh are behaving true to form. They first questioned the valour of our soldiers & are now unhappy that the two vaccines to get DCGI nod are made in India. Clearly, they are on a quest for permanent political marginalization.”

Jairam Ramesh responded saying, “So says the in-house Goebbels-cum-Albert Speer.”

Congress MP Tharoor also raised objections to Puri's remarks saying that he had never questioned the bravery of Indian soldiers. “I would be happy and proud if more Indian vaccines are approved — but only after a full 3-phase trial confirms they are safe & effective. Short-circuiting the process is unprecedented, inadvisable & risks lives," he tweeted.