Shashi Tharoor credits govt for 100-crore COVID vaccine milestone; Pawan Khera says ‘insult’ to families who suffered ‘mismangement’

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday said credit should be given to the government for achieving the 100-crore COVID vaccine dose landmark in the country, drawing a sharp response from party colleague Pawan Khera, who asserted that giving credit is an “insult” to millions of families that “suffered due to the mismanagement” of the pandemic. India achieved a major milestone in its vaccination programme against COVID-19 as the cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed the 100-crore mark on Thursday.

Reacting to the development, Tharoor tweeted, “This is a matter of pride for all Indians. Let’s give the Government credit.”

“After severe mismanagement of the second COVID wave & botching the vaccination orders that might have prevented it, Govt has now partly redeemed itself. It remains accountable for its earlier failures,” the Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram said.

Tagging Tharoor’s tweet, Khera, a Congress spokesperson, said giving credit to “the government is an insult to millions of families who suffered and are still suffering from the after-effects and side effects of widespread COVID mismanagement”.

“Before seeking credit, PM must apologise to those families. The credit belongs to scientists & medical fraternity,” he tweeted.