Karnataka health officer vaccinates State minister at home, gets show-cause notice

Bengaluru, Mar 04: Health officer in Haveri, Karnataka has been served a show-cause notice for vaccinating the state Agriculture Minister BC Patil and his wife at home breaking the protocol on the COVID-19 vaccination drive.

According to reports, the National Health Mission director-(Karnataka) Arundhathi Chandrashekar issued the show cause notice to Dr Jayanand M, Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) programme officer of Haveri. The officer has been asked to explain why the protocol was broken.

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"According to the Government of India guidelines, the vaccination should be done at the designated hospitals and it was conveyed repeatedly in many meetings. Yet, the norm was flouted, bringing a bad name to the health department", the director said in her notice.

She added that in case the RCH officer was found wrong, then disciplinary action would be taken against him. Health officials said no one should take the shot at home as it will be difficult to monitor or give proper treatment during Adverse Event Following Immunisation (AEFI).

Meanwhile, the Centre has asked for a report from the State government on the matter. Despite facing flak from various quarters including Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar, Patil said there was nothing wrong in getting inoculated at home.

BC Patil and his wife took the COVID-19 vaccination on the second day of the vaccination drive on Tuesday to cover people aged above 60 and those aged between 45-59 with co-morbidities.