"Just Followed Orders"... Indian Nurse Vaccinates 30 Students with One Syringe

Vaccination Nurse: "The Authorities Only Provided One Syringe"

The school where the incident occurred (left) and the syringe found at the scene / YouTube 'NDTV' capture

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Nayeon] Controversy has arisen after 30 students at a school in India were vaccinated against COVID-19 using the same syringe.

According to major foreign media, a recent incident occurred at Jain Public School located in Madhya Pradesh, central India, where a single-use syringe was reused to vaccinate about 30 students against COVID-19.

This fact came to light when a parent accompanying their child reported it to the authorities.

The parent, Dinesh Namdev, observed the vaccination process and felt something was wrong. He asked, "How many syringes are being used?" The nurse replied, "More than 30 students were vaccinated with one syringe." Shocked, Namdev immediately informed the school and authorities.

After receiving the report, officials were sent to the school, but the nurse who administered the vaccines, Jitendra Rai, had already left the school.

The nurse who administered the vaccines was later booked by the police. It is also reported that the local official responsible for vaccine administration is under investigation.

Rai admitted to vaccinating more than 30 students with one syringe but expressed his innocence and frustration.

He claimed, "Initially, only one syringe was sent by the relevant authorities. I knew that one syringe should not be used for multiple people, so I asked the authorities again, but they just said 'it's okay.'"

The authorities concluded that Rai was negligent and launched an investigation. Officials responsible for vaccination equipment were also investigated.

According to local media, 19 of the vaccinated students have shown no abnormalities, and the remaining students are awaiting test results.

Following the incident, a spokesperson for the opposition party in India reportedly called for the resignation of the state health minister, stating that the 'one vaccine, one syringe' guideline was ignored to meet vaccination targets, endangering children's safety.

Meanwhile, in India, disposable syringes are generally used to prevent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The Ministry of Health of India also requires syringes to be used only once and discarded during COVID-19 vaccinations.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.