KOLKATA: The ‘
vaccines
’ administered at the camp in
Kasba
on Tuesday could just be saline water since it has not led to any immediate adverse reaction among recipients, doctors said. Had the injected liquid contained any unsterilized substance, it would have triggered an infection leading to fever, puss formation at the injected area or an allergic reaction, they said. However, some said impurities in the injection could have a long-term impact.
“It seems that those who conducted the camp did some homework. It’s likely they have used saline water or some innocuous substance. It’s difficult for recipients to know since a genuine
vaccine
may or may not trigger immediate reactions. But it will be self-limiting, mild and not fatal,” said RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences interventionist Souren Panja.
Others, like internal medicine consultant Arindam
Biswas
, warned that impurities in the fake vaccines could have a long-term neurological impact. “It is possible for the recipients to develop pain and swelling in the injected area, cough and fever. These symptoms match the immediate reactions of a real vaccine, so it is confusing and dangerous,” said Biswas.
IMA
president
Shantanu Sen
said recipients will be kept under observation.
Meanwhile, medicine wholesalers at
Bagri Market
have denied sale of vaccine from the market after the accused said he procured it from there. They said there has never been any allegation of wholesalers here selling fake or spurious drugs.
Some recipients from the Kasba camp told TOI they have not had any adverse reaction so far, but were scared. Sandhya Das (55), a vegetable seller at Kasba Market, took the shot since she was told the camp was vaccinating those without an Aadhaar card. But she said there has been no adverse reaction yet. Grocery shop owner Dibakar Mandal said he has had no reaction so far.
Bagri Market and Mehta Building are wholesale hubs of medicines. Both get special exemption during restrictions so that medicine supply to stores is not disrupted. “Even the government and private hospitals are facing difficulty in procuring the vaccines. How can it be available in Bagri Market? No wholesaler in Bagri is selling the vaccine. We don’t know how the market’s name got involved in this,” said
Asutosh Singh
, president of the shop owners’ association.