There were reports of many people, who did not get vaccinated, getting messages on their mobile phones that they have received their jabs. In some cases, vaccination registrations were done with similar identity documents.
On June 21, when the new phase of the Covid vaccination drive began with free vaccines for all Indians above 18, Madhya Pradesh said it created a record of administering 1.7 million doses. But soon complaints emerged as many of those with their mobile numbers registered in Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh were shown among the beneficiaries. There were reports of many people, who did not get vaccinated, getting messages on their mobile phones that they have received their jabs. In some cases, vaccination registrations were done with similar identity documents. There were also complaints of one person getting several messages confirming vaccinations. In Bhopal, a 13-year-old boy, who is not eligible for vaccination, was shown among those vaccinated as per a message sent on his father’s phone.
State health minister Prabhuram Chaudhary brushed aside the complaints citing “human errors”, which he said will be corrected. He added they have ordered an inquiry into how the 13-year-old was shown as vaccinated.
“We have not received any formal complaint, but we came to know about it from social media and activists. Most of the complaints are baseless and just errors of humans submitting details on the portal; nothing else,” he said.
Nuzhat Saleem, 45, a Bhopal resident, said she received a message about her first dose on June 21 on her late husband’s mobile number. “I was shown vaccinated on basis of widow pension document...(from) Bhopal Municipal Corporation,” she said. Saleem added her “provisional vaccination certificate” showed the pension document as her identity proof.