Congress leader Rahul Gandhi received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine three days ago, according to several reports. News agency ANI cited people familiar with the matter that he did not attend Parliament on Thursday and Friday after receiving the jab against Covid-19. However, it was not clear whether he got Covaxin or Covishield, the reports stated.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has in the past questioned Rahul Gandhi over the delay in getting vaccinated against Covid-19 and accused him and his family of creating vaccine hesitancy.
In June, the Congress party said party president Sonia Gandhi has taken both doses of the Covishield vaccine and that her daughter and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has taken her first dose. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said Rahul Gandhi will take his shot after he recovers from Covid-19 as advised by doctors.
"Instead of beating around the bush and creating non-issues, the Modi government should concentrate on vaccinating 80 lakh to one crore people daily in order to meet the target of 100 crore Indians by December 31, 2021," Surjewala told PTI.
"This is the only 'raj dharma' they need to follow after failing the people of India during the second wave of Covid-19," he added.
The Wayanad MP tested positive for Covid-19 on April 20.
Congress has been criticizing the government over its vaccination strategy and asked them to make its policy public on how to vaccinate all Indians and protect them from Covid-19 in the future.