The nonagenarian, who had been living on the streets, did not possess any proof of identity; police said they would monitor him and ensure he got his second dose too
The Tiruppur City Police have helped a 93-year-old homeless man, who did not possess any proof of identity, to get his first COVID-19 vaccine shot in Tiruppur.According to the police, R. Rangasamy was from Karur district and had been living on the streets for nearly 20 years, opposite a temple, within the limits of the Tiruppur South police station. He was recently featured by a private news channel, where he admitted that he was unvaccinated.The news report, which was uploaded on social media platforms, had reached the office of the Director-General of Police, C. Sylendra Babu, who directed the Tiruppur City Police on Tuesday to look into the matter. “We received the alert from the DGP’s office at around 11 a.m. [on Tuesday],” said Assistant Commissioner of Police (Intelligence Section) K. Radhakrishnan. The Intelligence Section immediately commenced the search for the senior citizen across the city.After around four hours of searching, the police located Mr. Rangasamy within the Tiruppur South police station limits, he said. The police found that he did not possess any identity proofs such as Aadhaar card or a voter identity card. Following this, Inspector of Tiruppur South police station P. Pitchaiah, and a few officers from the Intelligence Section, escorted Mr. Rangasamy to the Government Medical College Hospital in Tiruppur, where he was given the first dose of the vaccine, Covaxin at around 5.30 p.m.“We will monitor him for the next 28 days and we will ensure that he also gets his second vaccine dose on time,” Mr. Radhakrishnan said on Wednesday.