The Uttar Pradesh police, on Monday, May 31, found itself in a catch 22 situation when a man lodged a complaint against Serum Institute of India’s (SII) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR) Director-general, National Health Mission’s Director and others for exposing him to hazards over false claims. The man identified as Pratap Chandra hailing from Ruchi Khand area of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh lodged the complaint in Ashiyana police station on Monday.
Chandra claimed in a report that he took the first dose of Covishield, a vaccine approved by ICMR against lethal Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), on April 8. Chandra then carried out a test in a nearby government-approved lab for antibodies produced in his body due to the injection of the COVID-19 vaccine in his body. He was astonished to discover through the report that no antibodies were produced in his body after taking the vaccine. He, in contrast, claimed that his platelet count reduced to about a half.
“I took the first dose of Covishield on April 8. As per the recent government guidelines, we need to wait for a minimum of 12 weeks to take the second dose. Out of curiosity, I wanted to know whether I developed antibodies in my body or not,” said Chandra in the report by ANI.
He went on to state that he carried out a prescribed test at a nearby government-approved lab on May 25 and discovered that his body did not develop any antibodies. “The test result revealed that I did not develop any antibodies against COVID-19, instead my platelets were reduced to 1.5 lakh from 3 lakh. This is not only disappointing but hazardous for my life.” Chandra was quoted as saying by ANI.
The police have lodged the complaint but haven’t converted it into the First Information Report (FIR) considering the sensitivity of the matter. The police, however, claimed that the top officials have been informed of the matter and will progress accordingly.
Pratap Chandra has threatened to approach court if his complaint is not registered as an FIR. Chandra has mentioned SII CEO Adar Poonawalla, ICMR Director-General Dr. Balram Bhargava, Union Health Ministry’s Joint Secretary Luv Aggarwal, National Health Mission’s Director Aparna Upadhyay, etc. in his complaint.
The allegations made by Chandra in his complaint to Ashiyana police station are of serious nature and seems to have the tendency to reach the top court if police do not bring out a desired action on the culprits.
