MR vaccination: Govt mum on adverse effects

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 9

Children administered MR vaccine continue to fall sick. It’s been nine days and the government is yet to own up the responsibility. The best it can do is brush every controversy under the carpet, it seems.

The campaign that aimed at vaccinating 73 lakh children between 9 months and 15 years in 25 days in the state, was launched on May 1. On Wednesday, the government claimed that as many as 12 lakh children had been vaccinated in nine days. But it forgot the fact that a six-year-old girl died in Bathinda, several children fell sick and two boys landed in hospital after being administered the vaccine.

The government has so far disassociated itself with the cases. Let alone, providing treatment to the children, it is not even ready to order an inquiry.

The families of both boys lamented that nobody had come to help them.

Even on Monday, Health Minister Brahm Mohindra was seen blaming a fake social media campaign. It took a team consisting of health officials, WHO representatives and the ministry eight days to visit Bathinda and other districts of state to ascertain the cause of adverse events following the immunisation.

However, even before any inquiry report, on the basis of “preliminary investigation”, the minister has reached a conclusion. He said: “It was noticed that most cases in Bathinda and other districts had nothing to do with the MR vaccination.”

Going a step further, he said for the satisfaction of the parents, samples of used and unused vials of vaccine and syringes were taken from different areas of Bathinda and sent to CRI, Kasauli.

from The Tribune https://ift.tt/2rA7zRE