Housing societies to obtain NOC for inoculation drive: Maha min on Mumbai vaccination scam

As the Mumbai Police arrested four suspects in the COVID19 vaccination drive scam in a housing society in the suburbs, Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray has urged the housing societies to take No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) before conducting any such vaccination drives in the respective housing societies. The Maharashtra minister said the onus lies with the private societies as well as the government to ensure that the teams coming for conducting vaccination drives are legitimate.

What is the Mumbai housing society vaccination scam?

The residents of Mumbai's Hiranandani Heritage society in Kandivali alleged that they were victims of a 'vaccination scam'. The residents stated that they were inoculated with fake vaccine doses during a vaccination drive that was carried out on May 30. According to a resident of the colony, around 390 residents received Covishield vaccines in the society premises. The beneficiaries also contributed a total of Rs. 4,56,000, which comes up to Rs. 1,260 each.

However, the vaccinating team did not have laptops and the vaccinated beneficiaries received vaccination certificates with different dates, locations and in the name of various hospitals. The residents lodged a complaint with the police as it was all suspicious. Upon investigating, it came to light that the hospitals which are mentioned in the COVID-19 certificates had nothing to do with the vaccination drive and there was no agreement of the hospitals with those who conducted the vaccination drive.

What does BMC say?

BMC in a statement on June 19 said that an investigation report on suspected vaccine administration in Kandivali has been submitted while Kandivali police have launched further investigation. They have registered a case and four suspects have been arrested.

A report was made by Deputy Commissioner Vishwas Shankarwar after conducting an inquiry into the suspected COVID-19 vaccination drive at a housing complex in Kandivali in the western suburbs and the same has been submitted to BMC.

"It is clear that the entire vaccination was done illegally. It has been revealed that the suspects were vaccinated without seeking any permission from the corporation or without signing an agreement with any hospital," BMC said.

"It has also come to light that the circular issued by the BMC on May 7, 2021, regarding the guidelines to be followed by the housing societies for vaccination has not been complied with and no permission has been sought from the concerned for organizing the vaccination,"  BMC added.

"Overall, it has been revealed that this type of vaccination was done in a fake manner. Not only this, it has also been pointed out that fake certificates have been issued by stealing the user ID and password to issue the vaccination certificates and the suspected vaccine has been obtained in an unauthorized manner," BMC said.