COVID-19: India clebrates 'Tika Utsav' from Sunday

India celebrates a four-day 'Vaccine festival' (Teeka Utsav) in the country to intensify the fight against the novel coronovirus pandemic.

Tika Utsav will start from Sunday, and continue until Wednesday (14 April). This aims to vaccinate maximum eligible people against viral disease.

Appealing to the youth, the PM said they should provide all possible help to vaccinate people aged more than 45 years in their vicinity.

"Our efforts should be to inoculate maximum eligible people during the 'Tika Utsav' (vaccination festival) between April 11-14," PM Narendra Modi said.

All eligible citizens can register and book an appointment with the help of CoWIN portal and Aarogya Setu App. On-site registration facility is also available. The Tika Utsav is being seen as a special drive to vaccinate as many eligible people as possible.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also issued an appeal to people to get vaccinated in large numbers during the ‘Tika Utsav’.

States like Bihar, Goa, Madhya Pradesh have already made appeals to the eligible people to get themselves vaccinated in large numbers during the 'Tika Utsav', which will last for four days.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister has written to the Prime Minister requesting for supply 25 lakh doses of COVID vaccine for the Tika Utsav to be held between April 11 and April 14.

YS Reddy said that there are only 2 lakh doses in the state and another 2 lakh doses were received on Friday (April 9).

Reddy wrote, "There is an urgent need for another 25 lakh doses for our state which if made available to us before April 11, Tika Utsav can be celebrated under your able leadership in my state in a grand manner and it can be showcased at the national level."

However, Rahul Gandhi criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to observe 'tika utsav' (vaccine festival) from April 11-14.

"Amid the growing corona crisis, shortage of vaccines is a very serious issue and not an "utsav". Is it right to export vaccines by putting the lives of the countrymen at risk? The central government must help all states without any bias. We all have to defeat this pandemic together," Rahul Gandhi tweeted.