Hyderabad: The Coronavirus pandemic has brought out the best, and worst, in people across the world. The Covid-19 vaccination drive, which has made India proud, has also sadly, yet again, demonstrated that we Indians do not hesitate when it comes to jumping the queue.
Queue jumpers, in their shameful attitude to get something ahead of their turn, are least mindful of others or about deserving what they take.
What makes it a shame for Telangana, which has been responsible for designing and manufacturing one of the two vaccines, is a complicit government machinery abetting and aiding such activities – condoning those who jump queues using wrong means to get what they, with utter lack of discipline or social conscientiousness.
Queue jumping for Covid vaccines is currently happening in Telangana, wherein some people are the vaccine shots clandestinely, in complete disregard for national guidelines that have placed as priority number one frontline warriors – medical professionals and hospital workers –ones who faced the brunt of the pandemic for a year, several of them even fell sick while trying to save lives of the rest of Indians. In this category of people were some fallen heroes too, who died in line of duty.
In what is nothing less than a shocking revelation, it has emerged that some people, a chosen few with “enough pull and leverage” with powers that be, have been getting Covid vaccine shots in Telangana out of turn.
Deccan Chronicle could reliably learn and confirm that so far, several dozens of individuals have received Covid vaccines in the state in this manner.
These individuals are not healthcare professionals, but others who, otherwise, would have to wait for their turn for vaccine doses. Currently, the Phase I of the vaccination programme is reserved for medical professionals and hospital workers in the government and private sector across the country.
Phase II will cover staff and workers from other frontline departments such as the police, civic bodies staff and from other line departments directly involved in Covid-19 operations or exposed to Covid-19 treatment protocols, or in some manner with patient services and care.
Several amongst these are people, who otherwise would be among the last to get their shots as per protocols. It is noteworthy that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been urging everyone to follow the protocol as a national duty. But such folks are being provided with vaccination shots from stocks available with the Telangana state government.
It may be recalled that following PM Modi’s admonishment at the launch of the vaccination drive, on queue jumping requests, some politicians in Telangana grudgingly agreed to wait for their turn.
What is happening in Telangana currently, according to senior medical professionals, is a “serious cause for concern” as this is being done off the books, without the details of these ineligible beneficiaries’ being uploaded on CoWin website. Every Covid-19 vaccine taker’s information is to be loaded on the website but since the queue jumpers are not eligible for vaccine shots now, this is being given the go by.
More importantly, since these ‘beneficiaries’ are off the books, any potential post-vaccination complication is expected to pose severe challenges. It is very likely that such vaccine recipients, if they do experience what are called the ‘Adverse Events Following Immunization’ (AEFIs), might be left to their own devices.
Interestingly, most of these recipients have been given shots of Covaxin, which is still technically under clinical trials, requiring recipients to sign an agreement with Bharat Biotech that they are taking the shots voluntarily.
Even more worrisome is double accounting methods deployed for these purloined vaccine vials. It is learnt that some underhand skullduggery is being called for to account for the doses being used. These secretly used doses are being adjusted against ‘wastages’ expected to occur in the normal course of events. The empty vials used for ‘secret vaccination programme’ are placed back for accounting the used vials.
There are also other serious issues that call for urgent attention over this secret second line Covid-19 vaccination programme, according to sources.
Will these queue jumpers get a second round of vaccination when their turn officially comes? What will it do to them, if that time, it is a different brand of vaccine than the one they have received now? What about an immunity certification for those who have received the vaccines as per the protocols? How will they get them?
But at this point of time, it is learnt that queue jumpers in Telangana are not really worried about these aspects as they rush to use their influence to get vaccinated in the hope that they will actually be able to withstand any potential Covid-19 infection.
Sadly, there will never be any vaccine to protect society from such people.
