Tharoor requests more vaccines from the Center for Kerala ahead of Onam

Thiruvananthapuram: Shashi Tharoor has requested more vaccines from the Centre for Kerala ahead of the Onam festival, which falls in the third week of this month.

The senior Congress leader has joined the state government’s call for more vaccinations in the coming weeks.

Tharoor tweeted on Tuesday: “Every day, more than 20,000 cases are reported in Kerala. Because of the early success in combating Covid, fewer people have antibodies, with 43 percent having antibodies compared to 68 percent nationally. The Centre must help with more vaccines: we should vaccinate 10 million people of all ages before Onam to reduce high-risk cases and healthcare burdens.”

In a second tweet, Tharoor tagged Union Minister of Health Mansukh Mandaviya, writing: “I request that the Union Government provide additional vaccine doses to Kerala State in order to meet the target of 10 million people before Onam. Otherwise, India’s largest #Covid caseload may grow even larger, triggering a national crisis.”

In a second tweet, Tharoor tagged Union Minister of Health Mansukh Mandaviya, writing: “I request that the Union Government provide additional vaccine doses to Kerala State in order to meet the target of 10 million people before Onam. Otherwise, India’s largest #Covid caseload may grow even larger, triggering a national crisis.”

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan stated last week that the state was facing a “acute shortage of vaccines.” He claimed that a new stock of five lakh doses that had arrived in the state was depleted in a matter of days.

For the past few days, Kerala has seen over 20,000 cases per day, a trend that began with the relaxations allowed in the run-up to the Bakrid festival last month.