With the West Bengal Assembly elections around the corner, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking Covid-19 vaccines for the state’s residents.
Stating that the upcoming polls may pose a health risk to the state’s voters and election staff, Mamata Banerjee said that the West Bengal government has decided to procure “adequate” Covid-19 vaccines for “the members of public at large”.
In her letter to the Prime Minister, she has requested the Centre to ensure that the Covid-19 vaccines are sold to the state government at the earliest.
“The worrying point is that, in the ensuing elections, the people in general will be forced to go to the polling stations without any vaccination coverage…Under the circumstances, Government of West Bengal has decided to procure adequate number of vaccines for the members of the public at large. We would request you to kindly take up the matter with appropriate authority, so that State Government is able to purchase the vaccines from designated point(s) on top priority basis,” Banerjee wrote in her letter.
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The CM further said that if the state government is provided with the vaccines, all the people in the state will receive the doses for free.
Meanwhile, the Centre on Wednesday announced that people above 60 years will receive the Covid-19 vaccines from March 1.
