Villager 'inadvertently' inoculated with anti-rabies vaccine instead of COVID-19 jab in UP

Lakhimpur Kheri (UP), May 02: A COVID-19 vaccination staff member at a community health centre here 'accidentally' administered anti-rabies vaccine to a person, officials said on Sunday.

Shivam Jaiswal, a resident of Nayapurwa village, had been to the Phoolbehar CHC in the district on Saturday to get vaccinated against COVID-19. He learnt that he had been 'inadvertently' been inoculated with an anti-rabies dose only when he asked the medical staff to update his coronavirus vaccination certificate on CoWIN, the portal developed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as part of the country's vaccination drive.

Chief Medical Officer of Lakhimpur Kheri Dr Shailendra Bhatnagar said he has ordered an inquiry by nodal officer Dr VP Pant even as he said the dose Jaiswal received would serve as a "precautionary dose against rabies".

"There is no health hazard... it would serve as a precautionary dose for him against rabies," Dr Bhatnagar said.

"The vaccination staff should have been alert and responsible," he added.