A 58-year-old nurse employed at the Urban Primary Health Centre (UPHC) in Tamil Nadu’s Karur was suspended for stealing Covishield vaccine doses. As per reports, the nurse fled with the vaccines to administer them to relatives and local residents for money.
The nurse, P Dhanalakshmi, who worked as a maternity assistant in Karur is a resident of Vedasandur in Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu. As per a report in Times Now, the incident came to light when block medical officer, Dr Maheshwari received information that Dhanalakshmi was administrating Covid-19 vaccines privately at her residence.
On Sunday, the health department officials raided her residence and the block medical officer informed the deputy director of public health. The Karur Municipality Commissioner informed that eight vials of the Covishield vaccine were recovered from the nurse’s residence.
Commenting on the probe and Dhanalakshmi’s suspension, the official said, “Based on the initial reports, we have suspended her. The investigation is underway, details about how she managed to get vaccines to her home, are there any other persons involved in this needs to be ascertained.”
Karur district deputy director of health services (DDHS) S Santosh while speaking with The Times of India informed, “A report will be submitted by the team after collecting details like the number of people vaccinated by the maternity assistant.”
The official also informed that action has been initiated against the nurse and an official complaint has been lodged.
Dhanalakshmi’s colleagues at UPHC informed that she had been working there for over 10 years.