30 Madhya Pradesh school children vaccinated with one syringe, probe ordered

In a shocking instance of medical malpractice, thirty students from a reputable school were given the COVID-19 vaccination on Wednesday in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, with just one syringe. The youngsters were vaccinated by immunizer Jitendra Rai at the Jain Public Higher Secondary School in flagrant violation of the established "one needle, one syringe, only one time" policy.

One of the parents, Dinesh Namdev, saw the oddity and raised the alarm, which led to the discovery of the occurrence. Namdev, the father of a girl in Class 9, asked the person administering the shots how many syringes he was using to vaccinate the kids.  He was taken aback when the vaccinator told him that he had vaccinated at least 30-40 youngsters with a single syringe.

"Who will be held accountable if our children acquire health concerns as a result of this obvious single syringe use? Will it be the school or the health department that bears responsibility if something bad occurs to our children?" Namdev was quoted as saying by The New Indian Express.

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Jitendra stated that the "chief of the department" had directed him to vaccinate all of the youngsters with a single syringe. In a video shot on the scene by the concerned parents, Jitendra is heard saying, "The individual who brought the supplies just gave a single syringe." But he claimed to not be aware of her name.

"I am aware of that. Because of this, I inquired if I may just use one syringe, to which they said 'sure'. Just how is this my fault? I carried out the request made," when questioned if he was aware that one syringe should not be used to inject several persons, Jitendra responded, according to NDTV.

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An FIR has been lodged against Jitendra for negligence and blatantly violating the Central government's "one needle, one syringe, one time" pledge. A departmental investigation has also been opened into the conduct of Dr. Rakesh, the district immunisation officer in charge of delivering the vaccine and other necessary supplies in the morning. Jitendra was absent from the school grounds and his phone had been turned off when the CMHO conducted the initial on-the-spot inspection and investigation.