Residents of Mumbai housing society allege ‘vaccination scam’, suspect they were given fake Covid shots
Residents showed no symptoms after receiving the shots, and hospitals have denied providing vaccines to the housing society. Now, 390 people are in a fix: what was injected into their bodies under the guise of Covid-19 vaccines?
Residents of a housing society in Mumbai’s Kandivali area claim they were the victims of an elaborate “vaccination scam”, in which they were given fake Covid-19 shots.
As part of a vaccination camp at Hiranandani Heritage Society on May 30, around 390 people received Covishield vaccines inside the society premises. Residents stated that a facilitator, Rajesh Pandey, got in touch with society committee members claiming to be a representative of Kokilaben Ambani Hospital. The vaccination drive was coordinated by one Sanjay Gupta, while a third person, Mahendra Singh, collected the money in cash from the society members.
Hitesh Patel, a resident of the housing society, said, "My son got himself vaccinated. For each dose, we paid Rs 1,260. After getting the vaccine, we did not receive any messages. I would like to point out that we were not allowed to take photos or selfies while getting vaccinated.”
At Rs 1260 per dose and 390 people receiving the vaccine, the society paid around Rs 5 lakh to the facilitator.
Suspicions arose when none of the inoculated persons developed any post-jab symptoms.
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Another society member Hrishabh Kamdar said, "We were shocked there were no symptoms or side effects. We started wondering what was going on because we did not even get our certificates. We only received certificate after 10-15 days."
However, these vaccination certificates were from different hospitals like Nanavati, Lifeline, Nesco BMC vaccination center etc., which further sparked doubts that something was amiss. When contacted, these hospitals denied ever providing vaccines to the housing society in question.
A statement from Nanavati Hospital said, "It was recently brought to our notice that residents of a Kandivali-based housing society were issued Covid-19 vaccination certificates in the name of Nanavati Max Super Speciality Hospital. We wish to clarify that we have not conducted any vaccination camp at the said residential complex. We have informed authorities concerned and are lodging a formal complaint regarding the same."
Kokilaben Ambani Hospital also said that they never gave any vaccines to society members.
The incident has spelled anxiety among the residents of Hiranandani Heritage, who are wondering if the shots they were administered were genuine vaccines or something else.
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“I want to know the authenticity of the vaccine. Over 390 people got vaccinated so we want to know what has gone into our bodies. We want government intervention. We think this is a big scam that is being carried out in different places,” said resident Dhara Madani.
Echoing the sentiment, Hitesh Patel added, "This is scam on a huge scale because we came to know that similar people have conducted vaccination drives elsewhere also. How are we going to fight coronavirus? If such things are happening how is India going to be coronavirus-free? Immediate action needs to be taken."
Meanwhile, the Mumbai police said they are investigating the matter from all angle and will verify facts. Questioning of officials from different hospitals and society members will be done and if any irregularities are found, action will be taken.
Of the three accused, Pandey and Gupta are being questioned by the police. The whereabouts of Singh are unknown.