UP vaccine goof-up: ANM suspended, medical officer transferred

SIDDHARTHNAGAR : A female health worker was suspended and a medical officer got transferred, two weeks after 20 villagers in Uttar Pradesh’s Siddharthnagar district were administered Covaxin after receiving Covishield in the first dose.The incident took place on May 14 at the primary health centre in Barhni where people from Audahi Kala and another village received Covaxin shots.

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Sandeep Chaudhary has admitted departmental negligence on their part and suspended Auxiliary Nursing Midwife (ANM) Kalavati in this regard.

Besides, Shivesht Kumar, the medical officer, who was in charge of the health centre, was transferred, an official statement said.

The CMO also issued a recovery order of Rs 7,500 against Immunisation Officer Shanti Singh after 50 doses of Covishield were found missing from the cold chain, it said.

Meanwhile, medical teams visited villages, including Audahi Kala and Manpur, on Thursday to examine the people who were received the wrong jabs.

“We have tested 18 of the 20 people so far and none of them are facing any issues,” said AS Khan, team in-charge.