Several cases of injecting fake Covid vaccines have been reported from cities like Mumbai and Kolkata. The fake vaccination scam has garnered many accusations on the government's preparedness for the mass nationwide vaccination drive.
Concerned authorities are investigating the fake vaccination hoax. According to multiple reports, thousands of people in India, in the name of Coronavirus vaccines have been duped by administering saline solution and simple plain water.
In connection with the fake vaccination scam scheme, about 14 arrests have been made so far, which saw as many as 2,500 people being administered with saline water instead of the Covid vaccine shot at about 12 vaccination centres in Mumbai and Kolkata over two months.
Arrested people belong to medical professionals, including Doctor Shivraj Pataria and his wife Neeta Pataria — the owners of the Shivam Hospital in Mumbai. As the investigation continues, the hospital that was allegedly helping with the scam has been shut.
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"Those arrested are charged under criminal conspiracy, cheating, and forgery," said Vishal Thakur, a police officer in Mumbai, who was quoted by NYT.
The case was flagged last month when several individuals who had got the jab raised suspicion over the vaccine when none could see their vaccination certificates on the government's online portal. Also, they have not reported suffering from any usual post-vaccine symptoms or side effects from any of the alleged vaccine recipients.
Recipients were charged between $10 to $17 for their single doses by the organisers of the vaccination sites.
During the investigation, the authorities have recovered around $28,000.
In one such case from Kolkata, TMC leader and Bengali actress Mimi Chakraborty was duped and was given a fake vaccine, while several people in the Kolkata area were administered an antibody called Amikacin, which is used in treating kidney ailments. The vaccination centre was organised by a man who was pretending to be an IAS officer. Lawyer Siddharth Chandrashekhar has submitted a public interest lawsuit in Mumbai's high court. In another report, the court condemned the government saying that it is "really shocking that incidents of fake vaccination are on the rise," according to the NYT.
As Covid cases began rising rapidly during the second wave of the pandemic, India started making efforts to boost vaccination when experts and scientists advised to inoculate everybody to prevent more brutal waves of Coronavirus in India. Vaccination for all adults got speed when top doctors and scientists claimed that vaccines are the only thing apart from the covid appropriate behaviour that could save hospitalisation.
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The centre earlier this year was also chided by the Supreme Court and several high courts for hiding the deaths due to the virus. Experts say that the numbers could be 30 times higher than what the official data shows, this was reported by CNN.