Mumbai travel firm offers US package with promise of COVID-19 vaccine

The WhatsApp message is from a travel company which is offering a US tour package in December as soon as the Pfizer vaccine is available in the American market

A Mumbai-based travel company is offering to fly people, who want to get COVID-19 vaccine, to the United States for a 4-day stay at a cost of Rs 1.75 lakh. The three-days and four-nights package is from Mumbai to New York and return. The cost includes airfare, hotel stay, breakfast and one vaccine dose.

Edelweiss Mutual Funds CEO Radhika Gupta took to Twitter to share a screenshot of a WhatsApp message that has been circulating. The message is from a travel company that is offering a US tour package in December as soon as the Pfizer vaccine is available in the American market.

“As soon as the Pfizer vaccine is officially published to sell in America (tentative date December 11), we are ready to get done for a select few VVIP clients,” the message reads.

Say hello to “vaccine tourism”. @itsdeepakjain pic.twitter.com/wCV4hBWRMf

— Radhika Gupta (@iRadhikaGupta) November 23, 2020

According to a report in Times of India, the message said that we are developing vaccine tourism and it listed out the manner in which the US might offer access to it.

“We are not holding or procuring any vaccine. Everything we will arrange will be within laws of the US. We will only process your requirements. Right now, no time frame can be committed. We do not collect any advance or deposits now. We just need your registration with us with your name, email, cell, age, any one of physical complications and passport copy. Rest everything will be done as per official permissions of health department there. Unless they announce official sales to people other than Americans citizens, we cannot get you the vaccine,” the message further read.

Also Read: Mumbai: Smooth Testing At CSMIA Airport With System Already In Place

So far, multiple COVID-19 vaccines have successfully crossed the testing phase. While Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna's vaccines have claimed to be over 90 per cent effective, Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has showed 70 per cent effectiveness in Phase 3 of testing.

With 44,489 new cases of COVID-19 infections, India's total cases reached 92,66,705 on Thursday. It is the 19th straight day when India reported less than 50,000 cases in a day.

Also Read: BMC Identifies Three Storage Spaces For COVID-19 Vaccine When Ready

According to the data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 524 new deaths occurred due to the deadly virus in the last 24 hours taking the toll to 1,35,223.

While the active cases stood at 4,52,344, a total of 86,79,138 have recovered from the virus and have been discharged of which 36,367 were discharged in the last 24 hrs.

While the recovery rate stands at 93.66 per cent, the fatality rate is at 1.46 per cent, the Ministry data revealed.

Maharashtra remains the worst-hit state with 84,464 active cases and 46,748 deaths so far. The recoveries in the state stand at 17,95,959. Apart from Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka have reported the highest number of cases.

Keep scrolling to read more news

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!