Senior Peoples Conference (PC) leader Basharat Bukhari Monday said that the availability of COVID-19 vaccines should not be a state secret.
In a statement issued here, he asked the government to establish a constant contact with the aggrieved masses amid the prevalent health crises in Kashmir and address their mounting concerns pertaining to the acute shortage of COVID-19 vaccines.
Bukhari said that the situation merits the government’s thorough, constant and fervent attention and that the chaos prevalent on the ground had put the masses in dire straits.
“On the one hand the government is asking people to get vaccinated and on the other, they are turned away from the health centers in hordes due to the non-availability of vaccines. There is a deep chasm being witnessed between the government claims and reality on the ground. It is ironic to find that in the last four days, mere 200 people per day in Kashmir have been vaccinated,” he said.
Bukhari said that the acute dearth of vaccines in Kashmir had to be addressed on a priority and that the administration should constitute special teams that could monitor the situation on the ground on an hourly basis.
He said that there was a dire need for the government to become responsive about the people’s woes and concerns and update them on a regular basis about the measures being taken to address the crisis.
“The communication wedge between the masses and the government is widening with each passing day. There is a need for transparent and long-term vaccination planning to avoid a catastrophe. The administration must, through a detailed consultative process, provide a timeline of how many vaccine doses are likely to be available over the next few weeks and months. Vaccine availability should not be a state secret. There should be complete clarity regarding this. The more people know where they stand, the better it is,” Bukhari said.