Mumbai housing society vax scam: BMC to seek details of vials from SII

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to write to Covishield vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India (SII), seeking details of the vials used by the accused in the immunisation drive conducted at Hiranandani Heritage, Kandivli, on May 30

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to write to Covishield vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India (SII), seeking details of the vials used by the accused in the immunisation drive conducted at Hiranandani Heritage, Kandivli, on May 30. The civic body is trying to identify the supply chain of the vials through the batch number printed on them. The preliminary report submitted by BMC on Friday night has found the vaccination drive to be ‘unauthorised and illegal’.

HT Image

“We need to find out from where the accused got the vials. This can be tracked from the batch number printed on the surface of the bottles of the vials. We will write to SII seeking details about those vials that had been used in the immunisation drive,” said BMC additional commissioner Suresh Kakani.

The civic body stated that the investigation into the matter would continue. It is also coordinating with the police. “If the vials have been procured from outside the state, then we also have to verify how they were supplied in the city,” he added.

Late on Friday, Sanjay Kurhade, assistant municipal commissioner of R-South ward, submitted the preliminary report of the internal investigation to Kakani. Following this, BMC on Saturday issued an official statement saying that no legal protocols were followed in the immunisation drive. “There were several loopholes in the drive. Our investigation shows that none of the hospitals/vaccination centres signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the society to conduct the drive. In fact, the local health officer and ward office weren’t informed about it. The drive was completely illegal and is considered a criminal act. The police are already investigating the matter,” said Kakani.

According to police sources, the residents had allegedly approached Rajesh Pandey, a former employee of Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, to inquire about the vaccination drive at their residential complex. Pandey, then allegedly approached the mastermind, Mahendra Pratap Singh, 39, who got in touch with his aide, Sanjay Gupta, 29, and organised the vaccination drive.

On May 7, BMC issued a circular stating the guidelines, according to which, it is mandatory to sign an MoU with the hospital before conducting vaccination drive in societies and corporate offices. Also, as per the rules, nodal officers, who would be responsible for registering the beneficiaries on the Co-WIN portal at the spot, should be present for the immunisation drive. However, no nodal officer was present during the vaccination drive at the society. “The drive was conducted without any device to register beneficiaries on the portal. The accused took the beneficiaries’ details, such as Aadhaar card number, on paper. No authorised doctor was present at the drive, which is a clear violation of BMC guidelines for vaccination drives at residential complexes,” said Kakani.

Also, the vials for the vaccination were procured through illegal means. “The accused logged into the Co-WIN portal by forging details of employees of other hospitals to create vaccination certificates for the beneficiaries,” read the BMC statement.

The incident came into the light after residents became suspicious as seven-eight days following the inoculation, they started getting vaccination certificates from three different hospitals and vaccination centres— Nanavati Max Super Speciality and Lifeline hospitals and the civic-run NESCO jumbo centre — that were not even involved in the drive. Out of the 390 beneficiaries who were administered with the first dose of Covishield, 120 received the vaccination certificates. Later, all these three vaccination centres denied their involvement in the immunisation drive.

Kandivli police arrested five accused on Friday in connection to the case.