City can’t afford repeat of fake vaccine campaigns

This picture has been used for representational purpose

Nearly 400 residents of the Hiranandani Heritage society in Kandivali West who had been duped in a fake vaccination drive were given genuine jabs by the BMC.

The police have registered nine other cases of duplicate vaccines and the corporation will have to ensure that those victims are inoculated as well.

The society had privately organised a vaccination camp on its premises on May 30. After it was found that the residents had been given fake shots and the drive was unauthorised, the police launched a probe and a massive scam came to the fore.

Approval is also being sought from the state and central governments to vaccinate the victims of the fake drives, wherever necessary, said officials in a report.

It is also very important to get to the bottom of this massive scam, and licences of any hospital or facility found involved in this should be cancelled. There has been action on these lines but it is extremely important that everything is watertight and well investigated so that there is no recurrence of this heinous crime.

Sporadic reports have come in about the masterminds of this scam being caught but the case must be complete, signed and sealed so that we do not have any lapse in the future.

It is hugely important that those who have got the wrong jabs get the correct injections. Parallel safeguards must be in place to avoid repeats or even something on similar lines, maybe with a tweak. Currently as we go through this pandemic, there is one consistent aspect, that of uncertainty. We do not know what shape this is going to take in the near future. So, we need to be vigilant about con schemes presenting themselves in different ways. Be ahead of the charlatans, and always on the alert.