Syringe reuse can expose patients to the blood of other patients CDC considers these "never events" (Photo credit: Pixabay)

A vaccinator allegedly used the same syringe to administer anti-COVID-19 vaccine to 39 children at a private school in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar city, officials said on Thursday. The parents of some of the children on Wednesday observed the vaccinator using the same syringe to inoculate the children and raised an alarm for the gross negligence on his part, they said.

The 39 children, aged 15 and above, were from Classes 9 to 12, a health official said.

The vaccinator, Jitendra, claimed only one syringe was sent by the authorities and he was ordered by the "head of department" to vaccinate all the children with it.

"The person who delivered the materials only gave a single syringe," Jitendra is heard saying in a video recorded on the spot by the anxious parents. Asked if he was aware that one syringe should not be used to inject multiple people, Jitendra said, "I know that. This is why I asked them if I have to use just one syringe and they said 'yes'. How is this my fault? I did what I was asked to do."

Read first part: Man vaccinates 39 students with 1 syringe in Madhya Pradesh, expert says all at high risk of HIV, HCV, Necrotizing Fasciitis

But whose fault is it? Is there a shortage of syringes and needles? News9 spoke to Rajiv Nath, Director at Hindustan Syringes & Medical Devices Ltd to understand the matter in hand. He said, "We have stocks of over 100 million Auto Disposable (AD) Syringes, ready in stocks awaiting dispatch instructions. Infact, the central government has surplus stocks and has asked us to reschedule and delay supply of orders placed on us by over 3 months of AD Syringes.

Nath said that in this particular case, "one should ask the administrative officer on such dereliction of duty."

He added, "That's why the only technological solution for ensuring a safe injection that's not been used before is making AD Syringes mandatory."

According to Nath, these syringes are available easily everywhere in India.

He opined that the so called single use disposable syringes can always be misused especially in geographical areas with limited financial resources and pretext of budget constraints, "whereas the hidden cost of treating injection borne infections is resulting in 6-8 times the cost of a STD disposable syringe."

'If some other companies want to exit their business from India they are welcome to! We will never merge', Ola's...

We will go five steps ahead of UP and give our own model, said the higher education minister of Karnataka.

India's Abhay Singh beat Joe Chapman of British Virgin Islands 11-5, 11-5, 11-5 in the men's singles squash Round of 64

The President also expressed hope that the long-standing India-Sri Lanka bilateral partnership based on shared heritage...

Nihar Thackeray is the son of late Bindumadhav Thackeray, the eldest son of Sena founder Bal Thackeray.

The protesters have been staging demonstrations for several weeks in Dharamtala area of the metropolis, alleging...

National Lipstick Day, celebrated worldwide on July 29, commemorates the colourful cosmetic that epitomises beauty and...

During his innings on Friday, Indian captain Rohit Sharma once again became the leading run-scorer in T20I cricket.

Tigers in India don’t just go by the codes they are assigned but many are also given names, by forest guards, guides,...

With the delivery of 'Vikrant', India has joined a select group of nations having the capability to indigenously design...

Arrested West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee's aide Arpita Mukherjee is in the limelight after seizure of a huge...

Producer Asit Kumar Modi and the star cast, including Dilip Joshi aka Jethalal, Munmun Dutta aka Babita Ji, and Mandar...

Veteran voice actor has lent his voice to numerous video games, films and TV shows

There is no provision under CRPC to demolish the house of an accused person as is being done in UP

Several firefights have broken out between security forces and militants, especially in the month of May

SP and BJP blame each other for sparking violence in Kanpur on Friday