Researchers and scientists have turned over a new leaf as the Vaccination drive is burgeoning but as all good things come with a price, there have been reports about a few vaccination swindles. Read ahead to find out more.
When coronavirus hit the world, little did we know that soon it is going to become an intangible aspect of our lives. We saw huge losses. Losses that can not be compensated by any means. Such were the conditions that no tear was left to cry and yet the catastrophe continued. Researchers and scientists were burning the midnight oil to find a solution. That is when the Vaccination came to the stage as a lifeline for the human race. It did not promise to bring an end to this blizzard but what it did was to bring down the probability of contracting the virus. It provided us with a penetrable shield with the potential of making our immunity systems stronger to fight it off. However, some people’s affection for gambling overpowered this noble discovery. It is a lifeline gamble but is it worth enough to gamble your own life for personal gains?
India was hit by a devastating second wave back in 2021. If this was not enough, the beneficiaries were scammed for vaccination. Thousands of people went to their nearest medical centers in the hope of getting their doses. Instead, all they got was salt and water in the name of vaccination. People fall prey to this massive fake coronavirus vaccine scam and both doctors and medical workers were arrested for their involvement. According to a report by CNN, the scammers charged their victims a hefty amount for the doses and earned about 20,90,938 rupees. In June 2021, the central government announced a vaccination drive, and soon about 63.2 lakh doses were administered a day. The fake vaccine drive took place between May and June 2021. Breathing amidst a medical crisis, we are heavily dependent on our doctors but if they are the ones ripping people off then what does it imply? Is it a dead-end for us?
At least 12 fake vaccination drives were held in or near Mumbai. They were using saline water and injecting it. Every fake vaccination camp that they (Police) held, they were doing this. We have arrested doctors. They were using a hospital which was producing the fake certificates, vials, syringes.
-Vishal Thakur, a senior official of the Mumbai police department in conversation with CNN
On top of the aforementioned scam, another case of a maelstrom of vaccination has occurred. Recently issues have been reported where only one dose was administered but the records showed two. Many cases have been reported across the national capital of Delhi. The beneficiaries claimed to have received only a single dose of the vaccine while the CoWIN platform showed the reception of both the shots. According to a report by The Hindu, almost all the people reporting the issue have received their first doses in Uttar Pradesh or Bihar. The Delhi government came across this hitch in December 2021. Soon, it issued a video addressing a solution. Anyone facing the problem has to log in to CoWIN, raise an issue, report an unknown member in the account and delete it.
Before deleting the earlier account, we note the date of the first dose of the vaccine. Then we create a new account and put that as the date of the first vaccine and then give the second dose. We use the same ID card the person used while getting the first dose and it gets done on the same day itself.
–an official told The Hindu
The report further stated that Dr. Girish Tyagi, secretary of Delhi Medical Council, suspected illegal activities to be behind this that caused the mayhem on the CoWIN platform. He wished for the government to look into the matter. Another case of possible illicit pursuit is providing a lifeline to the people. If people are thrown under the bus to get a lifeline, it is one step forward and two steps back. We talk about motivating the masses to get vaccinated but the motivation is getting jeopardized. Can the stakeholders benefit from a public welfare scheme to its full potential?
In another turn of events, medical workers had undertaken one more scam. A vaccination certificate scam was attempted. The medical workers manipulated the CoWIN website to procure ‘fake vaccination certificates’ by entering the bogus details of the applicant. According to a report by The Indian Express, two people- Zuber Sheikh and Alfaiz Khan, accused of the crime were arrested. As soon as the duo arrived in Mumbai, they realized that this scam would be easy to carry out since there is a large number of people who need the vaccination certificate for numerous things. All that a “customer” was supposed to do is to provide the Aadhaar card details, phone number, and of course the selling price of this snow job, Rs. 2000. After fulfilling these pre-requisites, the customer soon would receive a message from CoWIN, congratulating them on being fully vaccinated. Nevertheless, the scam was too good to be true.
A perplexing question that makes round in my head is that why every undertaking that is supposed to be for the greater good of the society gets converted into some profitable gimmick? Why are people always liable to pay a price for “earning” the benefits that are their bona fide rights? The vaccination drive in India is being carried out in full swing but as each coin has two faces, this drive does not come without its drawbacks. Nevertheless, the only thing that matters is to cut down the fatalities and cease them. Hence, steps need to be taken to ensure its success at the grass-root level.
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Featured Image Credits: Financial Times
Ankita Baidya