Victim of India’s first fake vaccine scam tests positive for coronavirus

During the second wave of Covid-19, Mumbai emerged as one of the hotspots

A medical staff prepares a jab of the Covishield, AstraZeneca-Oxford's Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine, during a vaccination drive in Mumbai 12 July , 2021 (AFP via Getty Images)

A young woman, who was among the victim of India’s first fake vaccine scam, has now tested positive for Covid-19.

Jaina Sanghavi, 31, is among the 390-odd people of Mumbai’s Hiranandani Heritage housing complex who were given fake Covid-19 vaccines.

Ms Sanghavi was hospitalised on Saturday in Mumbai and said she has since been administered several injections including Remdesivir, reported The Times of India.

She said the hospital bills have already run into several hundred thousand rupees.

“Apart from financial stress, there is the emotional stress of leaving my six-year-old daughter with my parents at Nalasopara. My daughter has a runny nose, which is also a concern. Besides, she has online school and her exams are also due, and I feel bad I am not around,” Ms Sanghavi said.

The news report also quoted the 31-year-old as saying that “all this has happened despite the fact that we had registered to get the vaccine well in time and by now would have been halfway into the completion of my first dose while being due for the second dose next month”.

Officials, meanwhile, claim they are yet to receive a report from the police on what was in the vaccine vials. Last month, the police registered a case and arrested one person.

An official of the local municipal authority said: “In the last week of June, a team of health officials had also visited the society and the health status of the residents was checked over the phone.”

According to the Indian government’s data, Maharashtra has recorded the highest number of Covid-19 cases with over 6.1 million cases. So far, over 37 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in the state.

The scam was conducted in 12 bogus centres in the span of two months from April to June.

Fraudsters took advantage of the rush to get vaccinated as the second wave spiralled out of control in April, feeding on people’s desperation as well as a chronic shortage of doses available through official vaccine centres.