The Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister on May 2 strongly lashed out at the unscrupulous elements spreading misinformation against the MR campaign on the social media by saying that appropriate legal action be taken against such anti-social elements.

In a communique here, the Minister said that instructions have been given to the cyber crime cell to identify the persons who are  generating false and misleading information against the measles rubella campaign being launched by the state government from  Faridkot on May 1, He also mocked at the misinformation being spread on the social media that the vaccine could cause impotency in the children and asked the rumormongers to come out with the facts that how many people have become impotent after getting Measles and MMR vaccine during last so many years.

Commenting on the media reports regarding the fainting of children after vaccination at some place of the state, the Minister informed that it was all due to anxiety as no other side effects were observed in these children. All these children were kept for observation for some time at they were discharged soon.

Mr Brahm Mohindra said that Health and Family Welfare department initiated the Measles-Rubella Vaccination campaign yesterday and 2,36,043 children were vaccinated on first day. He said that this is very disconcerting that some unscrupulous and anti social elements were trying to derail the MR Campaign propagating false and malicious information about the vaccine. He said that Measles vaccine was being given to children since 1985 in the national immunization programme while Rubella was part of MMR vaccine given in the private sector at a huge cost since more than 20 years.

He said that now when the government has decided to introduce Rubella into the national programme, the false propaganda has been started. “The same vaccine was being used all over the world with all success” he further said. At the same time, he appealed the public especially the parents to come forward and get their children vaccinated without any fear.