No second dose taken, but fully vaccinated!

By Kumaran P | NT

Bengaluru: Shruthi Sinha, a three-month pregnant woman residing near Hebbal, was taken aback when she saw her Covid-19 vaccination certificate which said that she had taken two doses, whereas she hasn’t taken the second dose yet.

In another case, sixty-year-old Rakesh Kumar had taken the second dose at a private medical facility, but the same was not updated in the certificate. Those manning the Covid helplines are now facing numerous such complaints.

Sinha told News Trail, “My doctor advised last month to wait for some more time and then take the second dose. Recently I happened to check my certificate and to my surprise, my second dose was already updated. When I checked the dates it was exactly 84 days apart and it has automatically been updated.”

“I am reaching out to the BBMP and other people I know in my circles who can help to rectify the issue,” she added.

In the other case, Rakesh Kumar, a businessman, had taken his second dose of vaccine last month, but his records have not been updated. He told NT, “For various purposes, I need my vaccination certificate and for the third dose I need to register. My certificate is not showing my details at all. I have all records of the second dose that I took and I am finding ways to get it updated.”

Ameen-E-Mudassar, CEO of CIGMA shared the same experience with his staff member. “One of my staff members came to me and she said that she hasn’t taken the second dose but she has got the update that she has completed the two doses. She took her vaccination in a private facility. When she called up the centre where she took the first dose and complained, the doctors told her to come and take the vaccine.”

“We need to probe this matter and see if this is happening only at the government set up or private labs. These issues are major when the country is making vaccination mandatory,” he added.

Senior officials in the Department of Health and Family Welfare have denied that such mistakes are happening, but advised the citizens to reach out to the nearest Public Health Care Centre to sort out the issue.

An official said, “One can reach out to the BBMP helpline number and get the issue rectified. Mostly, the issues are from the data entry and there is no such allegation of raking up the data of vaccinations.”