Thousands thought they were receiving a COVID vaccine. It was injected with saline instead: WRAL.com

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By Swati Gupta and Jesse Young, CNN إن

Thousands of people have fallen prey to a large-scale scam selling fake coronavirus vaccines in India, authorities said, and doctors and medical workers were among those arrested for their involvement.

At least 12 fake vaccination campaigns have been held in or near Mumbai, the financial hub, in the country’s western state of Maharashtra, Vishal Thakur, a senior official at the Mumbai Police Department said.

“They were using salt water and injecting it,” Thakur said. “Every mock vaccination camp they set up, they’ve been doing it.”

He said an estimated 2,500 people were given fake shots. The organizers charged their victims for the shots, receiving up to $28,000 in total.

“We have arrested the doctors,” he added. “They were using a hospital that produced fake certificates, vials and syringes.”

So far, 14 people have been arrested on suspicion of fraud, attempted murder, criminal conspiracy, and other charges. Thakur said more arrests may come as police continue to investigate other people involved in the scam.

India was hit by a second wave of coronavirus between April and early June, which infected millions and killed tens of thousands across the country. After peaking in May, daily cases slowly declined, easing pressure on the strained medical system – and allowing authorities to ramp up their vaccination program during the country’s recovery.

In June, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a centralized vaccine campaign, in which the central government will provide a large percentage of doses to states for free. Soon after, Modi said, the country carried out a record 8 million rounds per day – a “delightful” sign of the acceleration of the program. To date, more than 62 million people — about 4.5% of the country’s population — have been fully vaccinated, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

The mock vaccination campaigns occurred between late May and early June, according to CNN affiliate CNN-News18. The authorities launched an investigation after some of the victims of the fraud, suspected of having received vaccination certificates, reported it to the police.

One of the fake drives occurred at a housing association — but “none of our members showed any symptoms and we also had to pay in cash,” one resident there said, according to CNN-News18. “At the time, we were suspicious of it.”

When the police began investigating, others took legal action on their own. Siddharth Chandrashekhar, a lawyer in Mumbai, filed a public interest lawsuit on June 24 – at which time the attorney general had already confirmed more than 2,000 victims of the fraud. In the case file, the Bombay High Court said the allegations were “really appalling”, and urged state and local authorities to take action “so that innocent people are not deceived in the future”.

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