Villagers get mixed shots of Covaxin and Covishield in UP's govt hospital

NEW DELHI: In Uttar Pradesh, some villagers were given mixed doses of Covid-19 vaccines at a government hospital in an accident that was reported to be an "oversight” mistake. As many as 20 people in the Siddharthnagar district of UP were given doses of both Covaxin and Covishield vaccines. The district officials claimed that no one faced any adverse health effects due to the administration of mixed Covid doses. They also assured strict action will be taken against those who are found responsible

The incident took place in a Primary Health Centre in the Siddharthnagar district 270 km away from the state capital, Lucknow. Villagers, in this Primary Health Care Centre, were administered Covishield in the first week of April and then given Covaxin as the second dose on May 14.

"This is definitely an oversight. There are no instructions from the government to administer a cocktail of vaccines. So it is an oversight. We had ordered an inquiry and have got the report. I have asked for an explanation from those who are guilty. We will take whatever action is possible," said Sandeep Chaudhary, Chief Medical Officer of Siddharthnagar.

According to Chaudhary, none of the beneficiaries who received the shots have suffered any adverse effects. However, the impact of mixing the Covid-19 vaccines and their effectiveness is still a topic of global research which has not found any conclusive evidence and therefore is not prescribed.

"Our teams have spoken to everyone and have met all those who were mistakenly administered the second dose. They are all healthy and not facing any problems," Mr Chaudhary said.

Contrary to the statement of the Chief Medical Officer, one of the villagers who received the mixed vaccine shots told to media that no one from the health department has come to meet them. "I found out later that I had been administered Covaxin. A doctor told us that something wrong had happened," Ram Surat, an elderly man, said.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh's pace of vaccination drive is amongst the lowest in the country. Only 1.4 percent of its total population has been fully vaccinated till now. While UP has a massive 23 crore-plus population, the state has administered 1.75 crore vaccine doses in three months. The number of fully vaccinated people in the state is just 33 lakhs.