Class 7 Dropout Arrested In Odisha With Fake COVID-19 Vaccines Which Claimed 100% Results
Some of the world's best scientific minds are working round the clock to have a safe and effective vaccine against COVID-19. But a high school dropout already had the vaccine ready and was to sell it in the market.
Or, at least that is what Prahallad Bisi from Odisha wanted to do, taking advantage of the paranoia around the COVID-19 pandemic.
He was arrested from his hometown in Bargarh district on charges of manufacturing a dubious vaccine for COVID-19.
Busted
The authorities conducted a raid and busted a fake COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing unit at Rushuda village in Bargarh on Friday.
They seized several vials labelled as COVID-19 vaccine, some powder and chemical materials from his possession.
Surprisingly, the 32-year-old accused Bisi has only studied up to Class VII.
"After getting information, we raided the unit and found Bisi preparing a large quantity of fake COVID-19 vaccines. All the fake vaccines with sticker of COVID-19 have been seized," said Bargarh drug inspector Sasmita Dehury.
The counterfeit drug was to be supplied to the open market as COVID-19 vaccine, she said.
Injection vials read 'COVID-19 vaccine'
"We have seized injection vials with a label reading 'COVID-19 vaccine' from the possession of the accused," Dehury said.
"If required we will send those glass vials for testing after taking permission from the court," she added.
However, Bisi did not sell the fake vaccine to anyone so far, she said.
The Drug Inspector of Sambalpur, S Mallick, who was also present during the raid, said, "When we asked him how he made the vaccine and what the ingredients were, he told us that it was top-secret and he would not reveal it."
"We also found in his house some fake injections for the treatment of infertility. Labels reading Ovu Stop was there on those fake injections, Mallick said, adding that he had made the injection by mixing tetanus toxoid, cefotaxime sodium and castor oil.
Bisi claimed the "COVID-19 vaccine" he made is a combination of different allopathy medicines and was "100 per cent successful".
This is not the first time people have tried to sell fake medicines as COVID-19 cures.
In May, a 47-year-old pharmacist lost his life after consuming his own concoction, a chemical preparation he reportedly formulated for tackling the Coronavirus.
The pharmacist, K Sivanesan was working with Chennai-based Sujatha Biotech, an Ayurvedic and herbal products company and had devised formulas of various products.
But after consuming his COVID-19 medicine, Sivanesan, an ophthalmologist by qualification, fainted and was hospitalised where he died.
