A 31-year-old woman, who was one of the victims of Mumbai’s first fake vaccine scam in Kandivli, has tested positive for coronavirus and is being administered ‘remdesivir and countless other injections’ at a hospital in her locality.
The victim, Jaina Sanghavi, was among the 390 recipients who were administered fake shots at a vaccination camp held at Hiranandani Heritage housing society by some persons who claimed to represent a private hospital. The residents had claimed that they couldn’t find their details on the CoWin app and were issued certificates in the name of three different hospitals. They had also expressed fear that the vaccine administered to them could be spurious.
“The hospital bills have already run into several lakhs, with remdesivir itself being a costly drug. Apart from financial stress, there is the emotional stress of leaving my six-year-old daughter with my parents at Nalasopara. My daughter has a runny nose, which is also a concern. Besides, she has online school and her exams are also due, and I feel bad I am not around. All this has happened despite the fact that we had registered to get the vaccine well in time and by now would have been halfway into completion of my first dose while being due for the second dose next month,” Sanghavi was quoted saying by Times of India.
The visibly upset woman claimed that the authorities have been unable to provide clarity on re-vaccination more than a month after the fake drive.
When asked if the recipients tried to get the jabs again, Sanghvi said that she and her husband were among those who had been issued vaccine certificates and their status on CoWin shows them as “partially vaccinated”.
“The certificate given to us said we were administered the first dose by Lifeline Hospital. In such a situation, who would administer the vaccine to us?” the home tutor, who got Covid symptoms of cold and cough last week, was quoted.
BMC officials said they are in the process of deciding on vaccination for all the victims of the alleged scam. “We are yet to get a report from the police on what was in the vaccine vials. In the last week of June, a team of health officials had also visited the society and the health status of the residents was checked over the phone,” said an official.
Recently, police had arrested one Dr Manish Tripathi in connection with the case. In his pre-arrest bail application filed before the sessions court on June 22, Dr Tripathi had stated the main accused in the case is a private hospital but the Mumbai Police is trying to protect its owners who are “powerful and politically well-connected”.
The FIR was filed at the Kandivali police station on June 17 against the accused for conducting an unauthorised vaccination drive for 390 people on May 30. Subsequently, similar FIRs were registered in Mumbai’s Versova, Khar, Borivali, Bhoiwada, and other suburbs. The police suspect some of the accused were common in these incidents.
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