E-Paper
5 people in MP came for Covaxin 2nd dose, given Covishield instead
Chhindwara health officials tried to control the situation by showing people reports of studies abroad on the effect of people being administered different vaccines.
Bhopal/Chhindwara: Five people were administered Covishield as the second dose instead of Covaxin at a vaccination centre in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara district on Wednesday, said a state health department official.
Chhindwara’s district immunisation officer LN Sahu confirmed the mix-up and stressed that there were no adverse effects on the five people concerned.
“As many as five people received the wrong doses of vaccine. It happened as the vaccination was being done without prior registration,” Sahu said. “No adverse events following immunisation have been reported among them but they are being put under observation.”
A 20-year-old was the first to point out the mistake. Divyanshi Parmar said she discovered that she was given Covishield when she went through the vaccination slip and received a message on her phone. She confronted health officials. Later four more people, who didn’t want to be named, joined her to complain.
Officials said their family members created a ruckus at the vaccination centre at Chhindwara’s MLB School.
Health officials tried to control the situation by showing people reports of studies abroad on the effect of people being administered different vaccines. A UK study, for example, reported last week said a mix-and-match approach to Covid vaccines appeared to give good protection against the pandemic virus. Another study indicated that combining the AstraZeneca and Pfizer Covid vaccines could boost immunity.
Saha made the point. “Foreigners are allowed to take different doses of vaccines. There is no problem with it but many studies show that it is more beneficial,” he said.
Chhindwara collector Saurabh K Suman said: “We are inquiring into the matter and action will be taken after the inquiry.”
(with inputs from Bhojraj Raghuvanshi from Chhindwara)
