On June 21, Madhya Pradesh said it had administered COVID vaccine doses to over 16.41 lakh people, which is the highest ever single-day vaccination so far among states in India. However, days later, several “beneficiaries” have come forward to say that they received vaccination certificates even without getting even a single dose.

Among them, was a 13-year-old boy whose father received a message about his son receiving the vaccine. For those uninformed, India is yet to begin vaccinating children under the age of 18. 

Narrating the incident to NDTV, Rajat Dangre, the father of the child, said that his phone buzzed on June 21 morning. He was surprised to see a message from the government saying his son with disabilities had received his COVID vaccination shot. The age of the “beneficiary” in the certificate was 56.

“On 21st (June), at 7.27 pm, I received a message saying Vedant is vaccinated. He is just 13 years old. I tried to raise a complaint but it was of no use. When I downloaded the certificate using the link, I was shocked to find out they have used his documents which I submitted a few days back to the Municipal corporation for his pension (as a person with special needs),” Rajat Dangre told NDTV. 

Medical Education Minister Vishwas Sarang, however, dismissed these reports, saying, “There is no such problem. I don’t know from where you got the information. I am hearing this for the first time. If anything comes up, we will get it investigated,” NDTV reported.