M’luru man gets 2 doses of Covishield in minutes

M’luru man gets 2 doses of Covishield in minutes

Vinobha.KT@timesgroup.com

Mangaluru:03.09.2021

A 19-year-old daily-wage worker was administered two doses of Covishield within minutes of each other at a crowded vaccination centre in Sullia taluk of Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district on Wednesday. He has been under observation though no adverse effect has been reported in the past 24 hours.

The incident took place at a school in the taluk’s Duggaladka village when the centre was chock-ablock with vaccine-seekers due to a mega drive conducted by the government on Wednesday. Sullia taluk health officer Dr B Nandakumar told TOI that the man, despite jabbed back to back, will still have to take another dose after the stipulated gap of 84 days.

The officer said the faux pas occurred when the man didn’t leave the room after taking the first dose, and the nurse on the job didn’t realize she was administering a second dose to the same person. “Soon after realising the mistake, he was made to remain under observation for two-three hours before he was sent home,” he said.

A team of health officers has been checking his vital parameters at his home since Wednesday evening.

Dr Nandakumar said the man was under the impression that two doses of vaccine were necessary to travel. He seemed to have believed rumours that he would be denied ration from the public distribution system if he weren’t fully jabbed. “Hence, he did not leave the room after the first round of vaccination. The nurse, too, could not recognise him due to the facemask and the confusion caused by the milling crowd,” he added.

Dakshina Kannada district administered 49,364 doses of vaccine on Wednesday, and Sullia taluk accounted for 4,321 doses.