The Central government has reacted to an incident wherein at least 20 residents of a village in Uttar Pradesh were administered a different coronavirus vaccine as a second dose, triggering health concerns and fear among them.

Dr VK Paul, Member-Health at Niti Aayog, said on Thursday that there should be no cause of concern and added that any adverse event is unlikely. However, he did add that more scrutiny was required in the case.

“Our protocol is clear that both doses given should be of the same vaccine. This matter should be investigated. Even if this has happened, it should not be a cause of concern,” Dr Paul said, adding that “any significant adverse effect is unlikely”.

Dr Paul went on to reveal that the Indian government was, in fact, considering to mix and match different COVID-19 vaccines on a trial basis.

“As per the protocol, stick to the same dose of vaccine as the first one. If in case people are getting different doses, there is no cause for concern; it’s safe. We are thinking to mix and match (vaccine doses) on a trial basis,” he said.

It may be recalled that some 20 residents of a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Siddhartha Nagar district were administered Covaxin as the second dose after being given Covishield as the first dose.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Sandeep Chaudhary stated that an inquiry has been ordered into the matter and promised stern action against those responsible for the mix-up.

Ironically, UP Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh hails from Siddhartha Nagar district.

The incident was reported from the primary health centre in Barhni. Residents of Audahi Kala and another village were administered Covaxin shots there on May 14. These villagers had received Covishield as their first dose.

According to the CMO, medical teams were closely monitoring the 20 villagers. So far, they had not reported any health problems but were under stress, the CMO said.