Man taken to UP hospital for COVID vaccine, gets sterilised instead

A 45-year-old deaf and hearing impaired man from Vashunpuram village has allegedly been sterilised on the pretext of getting vaccinated against COVID-19 at an Uttar Pradesh hospital, PTI reported, quoting the police. 

Dhruv Kumar was taken to the hospital by ASHA worker Neelam Devi last Sunday. Kumar’s brother Ashok, the complainant, said that he was sterilized under the pretence of administering the vaccine. 

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According to the complaint, Dhruv Kumar was taken into a women’s hospital and the sterilisation took place without him being informed. 

Ashok Kumar added that Dhruv fell unconscious shortly after the health worker brought him home, and the family rushed him back to the hospital, where they were informed about his sterilisation.

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Dhruv was promised Rs 3500 by a healthcare worker, Neelam Kumari, for taking the “vaccination,” PTI quoted Inspector in-charge, Awagarh, Vijay Pratap Singh said, citing the complaint. An investigation has been launched into the incident

Ashok Kumar claimed that his brother is unmarried, the inspector said. No FIR had been filed as of Wednesday. 

“I made a big mistake by trusting her and sending my brother with him. Instead of providing the COVID-19 vaccine, she got my brother sterilized. My brother was already weak. He fell unconscious after reaching home. We took him to the district hospital. There, doctors asked us to take him to the SN Medical College in Agra,” the victim’s brother was quoted by Times of India. 

However, district Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Umesh Tripathi said that he got the matter investigated through the ACMO and a team also visited the village concerned but could not meet the victim.

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“No fault of ASHA worker has been found in the whole sequence of events. The sister-in-law of the man had misguided her and asked her to take him for the procedure, saying he has three children,” the CMO said, as per the PTI report. 

The sister-in-law had also claimed that Dhruv’s wife had gone away as he was jobless, the CMO said, adding that the medical team had no need to investigate whether the man is married or not.