How Many COVID-19 Shots Do You Need?
If you’ve just had your booster shot, you’re probably hoping it’s the last Covid-19 vaccination you’ll need. But some at-risk Americans are already getting fourth doses of coronavirus vaccine, and if you ask Brahmdeo Mandal, an 85-year-old retired postman in Bihar, it’s wise to keep getting vaccinated.
Mandal claims to have been vaccinated 12 times since last February.
“I felt that it was helping my general health,” he told The New York Times in a phone interview. “My backache has improved, my general weakness improved, and my appetite improved.”
While Indians are not permitted to get so many shots, Mandal evaded detection by going to different vaccination camps, and telling health workers that he hadn’t received a single shot yet. He recorded the date and location of each shot in a notebook.
For his first nine shots, he used his national identity card and mobile number, then switched to other forms of identification.
Perhaps because Mandal bragged to his friends, his many vaccinations came to the attention of the media and health authorities.
“Yes, he is claiming that he got 12 doses,” said Dr. Amarendra Narayan Shahi, the chief medical officer in Madhepura District, Bihar. “I have constituted a threemember investigating team to find the truth.”
Despite breaking the rules, Mandal is unrepentant about his many vaccinations. “I still want more,” he said.
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Compiled and partly written by Indian humorist MELVIN DURAI, author of the novel Bala Takes the Plunge.
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