Will Happily Roll Up My Sleeve, Retorts Omar Abdullah as Akhilesh Yadav Says Won’t Get ‘BJP Vaccine’

No vaccine belongs to any political party, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister tweeted on Saturday in a message firmly directed at Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav after he sought to politicise the vaccination drive in India against Covid-19 by saying he won’t take the shot.

Abdullah said he would gladly roll up his sleeve and get the COVID vaccine. “I don’t know about anyone else but when my turn comes I’ll happily roll up my sleeve & get a COVID vaccine. This damn virus has been far too disruptive & if a vaccine helps bring about a semblance of normalcy after all the chaos then sign me up,” he tweeted.

The National Conference leader, who posted the tweets hours after Yadav’s statement said the more people that get vaccinated the better it will be for the country and the economy. “No vaccine belongs to any political party, they belong to humanity and the sooner we get vulnerable people vaccinated the better,” he added.

Former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had termed the Covid-19 vaccines to be rolled out in the country as “vaccine of the BJP” and said he would not take the shot. “How can I trust the vaccine, which will be used for vaccination by the BJP? We cannot get vaccinated by the BJP’s vaccine,” he told reporters in Lucknow.

His remarks promoted an instant rebuttal from BJP leader and Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya who termed the statement an “insult to the doctors and scientists of the country”.

“Akhilesh Yadav does not have trust in the vaccine, and people of Uttar Pradesh do not have trust in Akhilesh Yadav. His raising questions on the vaccine is an insult to doctors and scientists of the country. He should tender an apology,” Maurya told reporters.

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