A top official of the Union Health Ministry on Friday reacted to reports of an elderly man in Bihar claiming to have taken a dozen shots of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Brahmadeo Mandal, a resident of a village in Bihar's Madhepura district, claimed that he has received 12 COVID-19 jabs since every jab made him "feel better". His 12th dose was taken around a fortnight ago, he claimed, according to news agency PTI.
Vikas Sheel, Additional Secretary & Mission Director, National Health Mission, clarified that as per the records on Co-WIN, the government’s portal for vaccine record and registration, there is no record of the man receiving 12 jabs.
“As per records on Co-WIn, only one person name Brahmdeo Mandal and age 85 has got vaccinated, that too with a unique aadhaar no. Co-WIN does not allow use of same ID including Aadhaar for multiple beneficiaries,” Sheel tweeted.
The official’s tweet was retweeted by the Union Health Ministry.
The Bihar man’s claims had left officials and social media users baffled.
"I have used my Aadhar card and my voter ID card on different occasions to get myself registered," Mandal, a retired postal department employee, was quoted as saying by PTI.
"Every single dose (of COVID-19 vaccine) has helped relieve my chronic back pain. I have never caught cold since I took the first shot 11 months ago," he said, reading out date, time and site of each jab scribbled on a piece of paper.
Mandal is not in possession of any system-generated vaccination certificate for these. With the matter appearing in a section of the press, bewildered health officials ordered a probe.
(With inputs from PTI)
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