11-Time COVID-19 Vaccinated Man Flees After Police Register Case, Threatens To Kill Himself

A man, who received 11 COVID-19 vaccine shots in the last one year in India, was on the run after the police filed a formal complaint against him.

Brahmadev Mandal, an 84-year-old resident of the eastern state of Bihar, had earlier said he would kill himself if he was punished.

The police had filed an official report this week against Mandal on charges of misleading the health department. He was booked for using different identity cards to receive 11 vaccine shots, The Times of India reported. The police raided his home Sunday, before which he escaped and also switched off his mobile phone, local media reports said.

“For me, the vaccine was some kind of treatment and way to achieve better health,” Mandal told Arab News on Sunday before he fled his house. “I know a case has been registered against me, but I will seek judicial redressal.”

The police charges against Mandal fall under sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 419 (cheating by personation), and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, all non-bailable offenses.

Despite the police case, Mandal said he wouldn’t mind getting another jab “if the opportunity comes.”

Mandal, an ex-postal department employee, said he took his first vaccine shot on Feb. 13, 2021. Between Feb. 13 and Dec. 30, he took 11 jabs at a public health center. He also kept a record of the place, date and time when the shots were administered to him.

“The government has made a wonderful thing [vaccine]," he said, appealing to everyone to take the vaccine to fight coronavirus. It wasn't clear how Mandal's case came into the light.

In order to get vaccinated, Indian residents need to register on the government’s CoWIN platform using their national identification numbers. The system then directs them to designated vaccination centers. The government has approved only two doses of vaccines for anyone above the age of 18. Recently, the government began giving vaccines to those between the ages of 15 and 18.

With the surge in COVID-19 cases, including a spike in Omicron in the country, the government began booster doses for frontline workers and anyone above the age of 60 having comorbidities.

India on Thursday reported 247,000 new coronavirus cases, the highest single-day rise in the ongoing wave. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 13.11 percent -- up from 11.5 percent Wednesday. The country also reported 380 new deaths, taking the total fatalities in the country to 485,035, while active cases rose to over 1 million, NDTV reported.