In an attempt to “meet the test goal,” staff at various Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) primary health centers allegedly forced hundreds of people to undergo a Covid-19 test first before receiving a vaccination.
Several people have allegedly been told to “take a Covid-19 test” whether they wanted the shot, the Times of India reported on Friday.
Shanta, 80, a resident of Doddabidarakallu, said she was due for the second dose of Covishield and reached the MEI playground in Bagalgunte around 11:30 a.m. to get the sting.
“After waiting in line on the floor, I entered the vaccination area around 12.30pm. I was stunned when I was told [BBMP PHC staff] that I had to queue up to hand in swab samples for an RT-PCR test. I was told that the only way to get the dose would be to give swab samples, ”Shanta was quoted as saying in the report.
Shanta said she had already received the first dose of the vaccine and had no symptoms of Covid-19 infection.
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Given the shortages of vaccines reported at several health centers in different states, Shanta suspected that the action by citizen staff was “a way to deter people from vaccination sites.”
“This is a waste of valuable resources. Or maybe it’s a way to put people off vaccination sites because doses are scarce. There were many like me who didn’t want to take the test. After much discussion, the employees gave in. and I got the vaccine, “she told the national newspaper.
‘NO CHOICE LEFT TO ACHIEVE GOALS’
While people were baffled by “the logic” of the Covid-19 tests prior to vaccination, some officials said they had been “verbally informed” by higher authorities to ensure that mass tests “hit the mark”.
“We have a choice as we have to meet the targets,” said one official, adding, “Our supervisors have instructed us to step up the testing. Aside from Covid tests performed on symptomatic people and primary contacts of infected people, “an official said was quoted as saying.
In addition, an on-site doctor allegedly said he was “on orders to have all beneficiaries tested” before administering the Covid-19 vaccine.
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“CANNOT FORCE PEOPLE TO PERFORM THE COVID TEST”
Meanwhile, the BBMP’s senior health officer, Dr. BK Vijendra that no official could force a person to take the Covid-19 test and that “there are no such instructions from the government or the BBMP”.
“We have not issued any verbal or other orders. We had received such complaints before. Measures are being taken against officials who force people to take the Covid test before vaccination,” said Vijendra.
Following the incident, Arundhathi Chandrashekar, Head of Mission for the National Health Mission in Karnataka, made sure to raise the matter with the BBMP.
According to the guidelines of the Ministry of Health of the Union a People who have recently recovered from Covid-19 should wait at least three months before getting their vaccinations.
A person with Covid-19 symptoms is also not allowed to be in the vaccination area.
From July 1st Up to 41.42.51.520 samples have been tested for Covid-19 in India. Of these, 1880,026 samples were tested on June 30, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) announced in its latest update.
India has now administered a total of 34,00,76,232 doses of vaccine. Of these, 27.94.54.091 are first cans and 6.06.22.141 are second cans. In the past 24 hours, 43.60.213 doses were administered in India, of which 33.54.211 were first doses and 06.10.002 were second doses.
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