Weeks after a vaccination drive was organised at a resident’s home in a Greater Noida residential society, the Gautam Budh Nagar police on Monday said they had lodged an FIR against the organisers for holding the “illegal’ camp.
The police said the FIR was lodged based on the complaint of Additional Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Neeraj Tyagi against the organisers.
CMO Deepak Ohri told The Hindu that the camp organised on May 21 and 27 at the home of one of the residents, Shubh Gautam, was ‘without permission’. He said 187 people had been jabbed with what they were told was Covaxin. However, that claim would have to be investigated.
The FIR was lodged at Beta-2 police station on Sunday under various Sections of the IPC, including Section 420 (cheating) and the Epidemic Diseases Act, the police said.
Some of those who were vaccinated were reportedly given certificates saying they received their jabs at the Naurangabad urban primary health centre in Aligarh, according to officials. The Hindu reviewed a certificate that confirmed this. However, the person declined to comment.
Others received no confirmation, leaving them uncertain about the second dose.
Shikhar Gaur, a 21-year-old college student, said he, along with his mother, received the jabs on May 27. But the CoWin portal did not show their status as being vaccinated with the first dose.
“We trusted the vaccination camp as it was being organised by residents. We received a WhatsApp message on a residents’ group and then were asked to fill a Google form. The rest of the information was shared with those selected for the vaccination via Telegram,” said Mr. Gaur.
He said the camp was held at the residence of Mr. Gautam and the participants were asked not to click any pictures.
“We thought it was for privacy reasons. After the vaccination camp, the organiser stopped answering calls. Now, we don’t know how we will get our second doses,” he said.
Mr. Gautam could not be reached for comment.
