Scam vaccines from outside Maharashtra

The society in Kandivli where the fake drive was held

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is expecting an official reply from the Serum Institute of India (SII) with respect to the Covishield vials used in the Kandivli society fake vaccination drive, but it is being suspected that the consignment came either from Diu-Daman or Gujarat. However, it is clear that the vials came from outside of Maharashtra as this would have made it difficult to trace the source and the people involved in the scam.

BMC says if the vials were from a city hospital, it could have been easily traced

About 390 residents of Hiranandani Heritage Society in Kandivli were ‘vaccinated' as part of the drive on May 30. The beneficiaries also paid '1,260 each and a total of '4,56,000. However, the vaccinating team did not have laptops and the beneficiaries received vaccination certificates in the names of various hospitals. The case came to light after the residents lodged a complaint with the police.

Following this, the BMC conducted an enquiry and sent the batch numbers of the vaccines administered at the fake camp to SII to find out the source of the hospital that provided the jabs. "The BMC hasn't received any reply from the SII. We are expecting a reply by Thursday," said Suresh Kakani, additional commissioner of the BMC.

Another civic official told mid-day that the SII told them unofficially that the batch number matches the vaccines sent to either Daman-Diu or Gujarat.

"At this point we can't say that the vaccines were fake and it has to be investigated. Maybe they used empty vials and filled them with some other liquid. Even if they procured original vaccines, it is a matter of concern whether the cold storage chain was maintained. The BMC cannot investigate beyond the city limits and now the police will probe whether they procured original vaccines," said the official.

When asked why the vaccines were procured from outside the state when Mumbai gets lakhs of it, the official further said, "Every batch has a unique number and if the vials were procured from a hospital in the city, it could have been easily traceable with the help of the system. So the people involved in the fake drive might have got the vaccines from outside."

The Kandivli police have registered four FIRs in the matter and arrested a number of people

A BMC report reveals that the suspects were vaccinated without taking prior permission from the corporation or without signing an agreement with any hospital. Although a total of 390 people were given the jabs, only 120 residents received vaccination certificates, which had names of three different hospitals. However, an enquiry conducted with these hospitals has revealed that the suspects did not enter into any agreement with them. It has also been found that the fake certificates were issued by stealing the CoWIN ID and password from a Covid-19 centre in the city.

Rs 4,56,000
Total amount the Kandivli society paid for the drive