R Krishna Das
COVID need to be combated with confusion given the terror it has leased across the globe. But the political leadership seems to be contesting it, literally, with their statements—inadvertently or intentionally.
The latest in the series is Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announcement that he would not get vaccinated for now as it should be first administered to others.
“My turn should come afterwards, we have to work to ensure that priority groups are administered with the vaccine,” Chouhan said on Monday. Though the intention of Chouhan is purely administrative as he wished to vaccinate the persons in priority, but the message had not gone well.
The statement of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav that he would not take “BJP vaccine” was clearly a political statement. At a time when people are confused and in a fix to fight the deadly virus, the “irresponsible” statements of politicians would further worsen the pains.
As experts said, the politicians at this point of time should avoid giving any statement related to vaccination. If they do not want to take the shot, they should remain silent.
People are reacting to their statements—both with seriousness and sarcasm.
“Vaccination of state heads will create confidence in common citizens, it’s not just about priorities sometimes but can be taken as confidence building measure,” said a tweet. Another said, “Shivraj Singh is a senior citizen and an “elected” CM. Not only is he vulnerable to the virus but also faces exposure. He should be among the first to get vaccinated. Why the hesitance”?
Many mocked as one tweet said: A pretty clever way to state: “I want to make sure the vaccine is safe before I get vaccinated by it.”
