MIDNAPORE: The West Midnapore district authorities have prohibited any gathering before 5am near health camps administering vaccines in an attempt to stem manipulation of queues in exchange for cash.
While vaccination begins in the morning, beneficiaries worried about a short supply of doses queued up in front of health camps in the small hours until now. An unscrupulous bunch of youths took it upon themselves to “enrol” these beneficiaries. None of these youths is an employee or a designated representative of the state health department. Nevertheless, they jotted down names of people who queued up at night and issued “tokens” for vaccination the next day.
According to some residents, who inadvertently enrolled themselves for these “special queues”, the touts charged up to Rs 600 per jab. The more you could pay, the higher was your name on the vaccination queue list drafted by these youths, they said. The administration came to know about the racket after complaints poured in about Keranitala health camp in Midnapore town. An inquiry was launched.
Additional district magistrate (general) Sudip Sarkar said he came across a person who had got his name enrolled by these youths and he informed police. “Now on, cops will ensure that nobody comes near health camps before 5am. They will also ensure that nobody collects money from people with the promise of getting them vaccinated. Those in queue will get the vaccine,” Sarkar added.
