Bengaluru: State agriculture minister BC Patil on Tuesday triggered a controversy after getting a Covid-19 vaccine injection at home instead of a designated hospital on Tuesday.
Patil, 64, and his wife got the jab at his Hirekerur residence in Haveri district. “This is not allowed in the protocol. We have asked for a report from the state,” Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in New Delhi.
The minister and his wife Vanaja got vaccinated at his Hirekerur residence, 330km from Bengaluru, on Day 2 of the drive to cover people aged above 60 years and those 45-plus with co-morbidities.
Patil, who tested positive for Covid-19 last August, tweeted about it: “Took the #COVID19 Vaccine with my wife, at my Hirekerur house from the Govt. doctors today. While ‘Made in India’ vaccines are being immensely appreciated by many countries, some vested interest groups are spreading false information about the vaccines.”
Dr ZR Makandar, Hirekerur health officer, said that as per guidelines, vaccines have to be administered at designated vaccine centres in taluks and districts. “The minister asked us to vaccinate him at his residence, so we went there,” he said. The Union health ministry took note of it after the video and pictures went viral and he was trolled on social media for the ‘VVIP culture’. Several people raised questions about Patil’s decision.
Health minister K Sudhakar confirmed that the protocol is to get a vaccine jab in hospital. He expressed dissatisfaction at Patil’s conduct. “Unless there is prior permission, no one can go home to vaccinate. It’s wrong,” Sudhakar said.The state government issued a show-cause notice to Haveri health officer Dr Jayanand.
Netizens were furious because vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and many central ministers went to hospital for the jab. Opposition parties in Karnataka seized the opportunity to attack the Yediyurappa government. “In this government, anyone can do anything they please,” said former chief minister and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy.
Patil said he hadn’t committed any crime and wanted to avoid troubling the public. “Have I committed a theft or robbery? I have only taken the vaccine at home,” he said.
He said it was good the incident became public as it would inspire others to take the shot. He said had he gone to the hospital, it would have caused trouble to people waiting there.
Chief minister BS Yediyurappa also defended him, saying it’s a non-issue. “It does not matter where he was administered the vaccine. The more important thing is he took it,” he said.
BJP invokes Nehru
Defending Patil, the Karnataka BJP accused the Congress of doublespeak and reminded them of former PM Jawaharlal Nehru’s VVIP culture, citing an anecdote on the website of Madhya Pradesh’s Raj Bhavan. During Nehru’s visit to Bhopal, Raj Bhavan staff realised that they didn’t have Nehru’s favourite cigarette brand 555. The staff sent a plane to Indore to airlift a packet. The BJP state unit tweeted: “Was Nehru a King and democracy rules do not apply to him? There is a lot of difference between smoking cigarettes and getting oneself vaccinated.”