BENGALURU: An elderly woman, a cancer patient and a resident of Vidyaranyapura in Bengaluru, was robbed of her second dose of Covid vaccine as someone in Gujarat has taken the shot which was assigned to her. With the help of a friend, she tweeted and tagged Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and Union health ministry with pictures attached to explain her situation.
Prema Jayaram (75), a former employee of Hindustan Machines Tools Ltd and a resident of Maruthi Nagar Layout in Vidyaranyapura, took her first dose at Neha Prakash Hospital on March 16, 2021. She was told to book for the second dose after six weeks.“I booked the second dose at Rajalakshmi Hospital close to my house. I even got a message that my appointment has been confirmed for April 30, 2021,” Prema explained to TNIE.
However, due to shortage, the hospital on April 30 informed her that she will have to wait for some more time. “I kept following up with the hospital. One day, I got a call from someone claiming to be from the hospital and sought my Aadhaar number and name. I gave the details as I was beyond the deadline for the next dose,” she said.
The person who called for details, said he is collecting the details. When the vaccines were made available recently, she went to the hospital to take the jab. She was shocked to know that her Aadhaar number was blocked and the CoWin app stated she had already taken the second dose.
She complained to the hospital staff, but they said they hadn’t caller her. She approached her friend, who started collecting details as to who took the shot assigned to Prema and found out that it had been taken by someone in Gujarat.“How is this possible? I am now frantically trying to contact the health department. I have emailed and also tweeted about this,” she said. Prema has received no communication so far.