A COVID-19 vaccination staff member at a community health centre here 'accidentally' administered the anti-rabies vaccine to a person, officials said on May 1.

The patient, a resident of Nayapurwa village, had been to the Phoolbehar CHC in the district on April 30 to get vaccinated against COVID-19. He learnt that he had been 'inadvertently' inoculated with an anti-rabies dose only when he asked the medical staff to update his coronavirus vaccination certificate on CoWIN, the portal developed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as part of the country's vaccination drive.

The Chief Medical Officer of Lakhimpur Kheri said he has ordered an inquiry by nodal officer even as he said the dose the patient received would serve as a "precautionary dose against rabies". "There is no health hazard it would serve as a precautionary dose for him against rabies," he said "The vaccination staff should have been alert and responsible," he added.