COVID-19 vaccine| 1,710 vials stolen from a civil hospital in Haryana

Two men were caught on CCTV, breaking into the civil hospital’s store past midnight, police have said. A probe is on.

Moneycontrol News

April 22, 2021 / 01:56 PM IST

A complaint has been filed with the local police and an investigation is underway. (File Image)

Amid rising coronavirus cases and reports of vaccine shortage, more than 1,710 vials of COVID-19 jabs were allegedly stolen from a vaccination centre in Haryana's Jind district.

As many as 1,270 vials of Covishiled and 440 of Covaxin were taken away by the thieves from the vaccine centre at the civil hospital, Hindustan Times has reported. A complaint has been filed and police have launched an investigation.

"Two men were caught on CCTV, breaking into the hospital’s store past midnight. We have studied the footage in which the two men are seeing breaking into three locks to reach the vaccine stock,” a police spokesman was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

Track this LIVE blog for latest updates on coronavirus pandemic

The accused did not touch any other vaccine, medicine, cash, etc lying in the store. A vial of Covishield has 10 and that of Covaxin has 20 doses.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

Show