Covaxin approval: News anchor Marya Shakil working for the country’s richest industrialist and Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani-owned TV channel CNN-News18 on Wednesday made a desperate attempt to praise Prime Minister Narendra Modi for playing a key role in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) approval of the vaccine (Covaxin approval). But Marya Shakil did not know that she would face public humiliation from the WHO’s director of communications, who denied her claims, over tweets praising Modi.
Shakil describes herself as the political editor of CNN-News18 in her Twitter bio. Sharing a picture of PM Modi with WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Shakil wrote, “A meeting that sealed it. Sources say PM Modi with @DrTedros pushed for approval of Covaxin at G20.”
Following Shakil’s tweet, WHO’s director of communications publicly denied her claims, along with a tweet issuing a clarification. Gabby Stern wrote in her tweet, “Hello, @WHO’s process of assessing corona vaccines for emergency use list is rigorous, scientific and standardized. This includes outside experts from a technical advisory group who review data from manufacturers and others to ensure efficacy and safety. Thank you!”
After this tweet by Gabby Stern, social media users started trolling Shakil, accusing her of indulging in sycophancy.
Check out some similar tweets:
Notably, Shakil was not the only TV representative from a pro-government TV channel who praised Modi for the WHO’s approval of the vaccine (Covaxin approval).
Several other TV representatives from pro-government TV channels also tweeted in praise of Modi using similar lines.
Check out some similar tweets:
Let us tell you that the kind of tweets made by the representatives of pro-government TV channels, in the same way, the BJP office-bearers also did the same. Which gave rise to speculations that representatives of pro-government TV channels were involved as ‘copy and paste’ in their attempt to glorify the Indian PM.
Here’s the reactions of BJP office-bearers:
The World Health Organization (WHO) has finally approved Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for emergency use. After WHO approved Bharat Biotech’s anti-Covid vaccine for emergency use, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday that it will make it easier for Indian citizens to travel and contribute to vaccine equity. Jaishankar said that this is also a global recognition of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Self-reliant India’.