LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has lodged a case against two employees of Lahore’s Kot Khawaja Saeed Hospital for making “fake entry” of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s Covid-19 vaccination.

The FIA nominated guard Abdul Hassan and ward attendant Adil Rafique in the FIR stating that they used tab name/login of vaccinator Naveed Altaf to make bogus entry of the former premier using his national identity card on Sept 22 (Wednesday). The agency registered a case late on Thursday after an inquiry into the incident on the recommendations of the Punjab government.

Police also registered a case against the two suspects on the complaint of the hospital medical superintendent.

Earlier, the Punjab government had asked the FIA to launch an investigation into “fake entry” of Nawaz Sharif’s Covid-19 vaccination. The hospital and the health department also started probes against the officials involved in the fake entry.

The issue surfaced after the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) officially uploaded the record which showed the former prime minister having been administered first jab. It embarrassed the Punjab government and triggered a debate on the vaccination entry system as Nawaz Sharif has been in London since November 2019.

The government portal showed Nawaz Sharif got the first jab of Sinovac from the Government Kot Khawaja Saeed Hospital on Sept 22 (Wednesday). The health facility is located in the stronghold of the PML-N.

An official told Dawn that the hospital had found out that a ward attendant and a security guard made bogus entry. He said both the suspects had been suspended from service after they claimed that a man had given them the ID card number to make entry for Covid vaccine in the record of the hospital.

The man told the employees that it was the CNIC of his elderly father who got the first jab by a health department team at his home. The visiting team could not make entry against his father’s CNIC into the government system and he (the suspect) requested the hospital’s employees to do that job, the official said while quoting the initial inquiry.

He said the employees further said that they were unaware that the CNIC number was of former prime minister.

“It is hereby requested to kindly investigate and take action against the fake entry on the name of Mohammad Nawaz Sharif in the National Immunization Management System,” reads a letter written by the Punjab health department to the Cyber Crime Wing of the FIA.

“It is furthermore informed you (FIA) that the entry was added from the Government Kot Khawaja Saeed Hospital Lahore,” the letter stated. It provided the FIA the particulars of the vaccinator, batch number and vaccination date and time.

Later, Punjab government spokesperson Fayyazul Hassan Chohan said at a press talk that investigation had been ordered and anyone found responsible would be punished.

A statement issued on Thursday said Chief Minister Usman Buzdar had sought a report from the health secretary within 48 hours.

A four-member committee constituted by the Punjab Primary & Secondary Healthcare Department has also started the probe. The committee comprises health deputy secretary (admin) Ali Akbar Bhindar, bio-chemical deputy director Amir Raza, project director Amir Khan and deputy project coordinator Abdul Wahab.

Meanwhile, the PML-N has questioned the credibility of the Covid-19 vaccination record after reports surfaced about bogus entry of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s vaccination a day ago. Party’s Punjab spokesperson Azma Zahid Bukhari asked how Mr Sharif’s data was uploaded on the vaccination authority’s website when his CNIC had been blocked by the government.

The misuse of the CNIC number of a former premier, she said, had put a question mark on the credibility of the entire Covid-19 data.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2021