HomeNewsPoliticsRahul Gandhi doing politics over COVID-19 deaths: BJP

Rahul Gandhi doing politics over COVID-19 deaths: BJP

At a press conference, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said the World Health Organisation's (WHO) methodology to calculate estimated deaths in India due to the virus is "flawed" and the Indian government had conveyed its objections to the organisation.

May 06, 2022 / 12:53 IST
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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi (File image)
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi (File image)

The BJP on Friday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of doing politics over COVID-19 deaths, alleging that the WHO's data and Congress' "beta" (son) are wrong.

At a press conference, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said the World Health Organisation's (WHO) methodology to calculate estimated deaths in India due to the virus is "flawed" and the Indian government had conveyed its objections to the organisation.

Story continues below Advertisement

Gandhi has tried repeatedly to lower Prime Minister Narendra Modi's image since 2014 and has in the process lowered India's image, Patra said. India has a robust mechanism for birth and death registration, he added.

"The WHO's data and the Congress' beta are wrong," he alleged. Gandhi had earlier attacked the government over a WHO report which claimed there were 4.7 million Covid deaths in India, saying "science does not lie, Prime Minister Narendra Modi does".

COVID-19 Vaccine
Frequently Asked Questions

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How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.
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