Kakinada, May 10 (IANS): Andhra Pradesh Agriculture Minister Kurasala Kannababu on slammed Opposition leader Chandrababu Naidu for allegedly causing panic among the people by spreading rumours about the N449K virus and defaming the government which is busy in fighting the Covid pandemic.

Speaking to the media here, the Minister said that although scientists across the country have clarified that the N440K variant is not virulent as claimed, Chandrababu is in his own way creating panic among people and damaging the reputation of state.

Kannababu's tirade comes in the wake of constant attacks on the YSRCP government's alleged failure to tackle the covid situation in the state.

Speaking about vaccination, the Minister challenged the TDP chief to provide vaccines, as one of the manufacturers, Bharat Biotech belongs to one of his close aides, and the government is ready to pay Rs 1,600 crore.

He said that the state government had already announced free vaccinations for people between 18-45 years, where almost two crore people are estimated to be direct beneficiaries and thus decided to procure over 4 crore doses from vaccine manufacturers at an estimated expense of Rs 1,600 crore.

Kannababu clarified that the government had already approached vaccine companies to supply required doses to the State, but with the current production capacity it would take months to vaccinate all the people.

Reiterating that the state government is working with an aim to save every single life by fully equipping all the hospitals and Covid Care Centres across the state, the Minister asserted that Andhra Pradesh is the only state with the capacity to vaccinate over six lakh people in a single-day, and can therefore complete the entire vaccination process in just 40 days, but availability is the problem.