India — Administering two different doses of vaccines is not a cause for concern, the Centre has said after at least 20 people in Uttar Pradesh’s Siddharthnagar district bordering Nepal were administered with different doses of vaccines, in a case of “negligence”. Niti Aayog (health) member VK Paul said the vaccination centres should stick to the same dose of vaccines, as per the protocol, but if a mix-up has happened, there are unlikely to be any adverse effects.
The 20 people who received two different vaccines in two slots are all from Audahi Kalan village and are aged above 45 years. On April 1, there were given a dose of Covishield, which was their first dose. On May 14, they were administered the second dose and as the health workers did not check the card to find out which vaccine was administered to them earlier, they were given Covaxin, by mistake.
The mix-up was pointed out by a villager Ram Surat who noticed that he was given two different vaccines in two doses. Reports said none of them reported any adverse effect.
Some countries have allowed mixing of Covishield first dose with Pfizer or Moderna second dose or vice versa, based on studies.
When the vaccination drive began in India in January, the Centre asked states and UTs to be alert to not mix two vaccines, but recently Dr Paul has said that theoretically and scientifically, mixing of two vaccines is possible, but the subject needs detailed studies. On Thursday, the Centre said it is looking to mix-and-match vaccine doses on a trial basis.