Medical staff suspended after man gets anti-rabies dose instead of Covid vaccine

The man suspected there was something wrong when he was jabbed in both his arms

Virus Outbreak UK Visa Rules (AP)

A doctor and nurse have been suspended in India after a patient was given an anti-rabies jab instead of a Covid-19 shot.

The incident took place at a primary health care centre in Thane city, close to Mumbai, according to Indian media reports.

Rajkumar Yadav, 45, said he suspected there was something wrong when he was administered doses on both his arms, according to the Hindustan Times newspaper.

He told the newspaper he was admitted for surgery in the hospital when he enquired about the vaccine. “The doctor said I can take the vaccine and gave me the case papers. As I was unable to stand due to the operation, one person from the hospital told me to go and take a seat in one of the rooms,” he was quoted by HT as saying.

“I have weakness and pain in my arm now,” he added.

However, even before the dose was administered, Mr Yadav noted there were several irregularities in the way the hospital was administering the jab.

“She [the nurse] did not ask me to show any papers or asked what dose I was there for,” he said to HT. “I was shocked to hear that they gave me the anti-rabies vaccine. I went to the local corporator and narrated my ordeal.”

After Mr Yadav’s complaint to the authorities about the government-run hospital’s mistake, the Thane Municipal Corporation said they had suspended the doctor who referred him to the vaccine centre and the nurse who administered the wrong dose.

“The medical officer in charge of the centre, Dr Rakhi Tawade, gave him case papers for the Covishield vaccine and asked him to wait in the queue,” Sandeep Malvi, additional municipal commissioner, TMC, was quoted by Indian media outlets as saying. “Yadav mistakenly went and sat in a queue meant for ARV.”

“When his turn came to get the shot, the concerned nurse, Kirti Rayat, did not check his case papers or inform him about the vaccine dose administered. She assumed he was there for an ARV shot and gave him the jab. The nurse and the medical officer should have informed the patient about the vaccine being administered and should have checked the case papers before giving any vaccine,” he added.

However, this isn’t the first time a vaccine-related gaffe has occured in Thane. The Times noted several incidents from the government centre where the vaccine shots went missing from the hospital or some powerful people were favoured for giving shots before others.

In one incident, a woman was jabbed thrice on the day and another incident of a senior citizen being given a certificate without being jabbed also surfaced, according to the newspaper.