Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who embarked on a 'cycle yatra' recently, said he has not yet taken the COVID-19 vaccine and will only take the jab after everyone who is in need takes it in the state.
The SP leader had earlier said members of his party will get inoculated only after free anti-coronavirus vaccine is administered to the poor and indirectly questioned the efficacy of the vaccines.
During a session of Panchayat Aaj Tak, the former UP chief minister pointed out the indigenously developed Covaxin is yet to get international recognition, reports India Today.
He also criticised the state government over its failure to contain the COVID-19 crisis and added that people were left in a lurch owing to the government's mismanagement of the pandemic, forcing the migrants to walk for miles to reach their hometowns because of the lockdown.
Earlier, in January, the SP leader had termed the anti-coronavirus vaccines as "vaccine of the BJP" and said he would not take the shot, drawing a sharp retort from the ruling party which accused him of "insulting" the doctors and scientists.
"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 had said.
However, he later clarified that he never insulted the scientists who developed the vaccines.