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Russian Doctor Fired for Advising Church Over Rabies Vaccine

Sergei Porter / Vedomosti

A Russian doctor has lost his job after telling a girl bitten by a stray dog to go to church rather than receive a rabies vaccine, the Interfax news agency reported Wednesday.

The hospital, based in the city of Dalnegorsk in Russia’s Far East, had ran out of the life-saving medicine, Interfax reported.

Instead, the doctor told the child’s parents to “go to church and light a candle to pray that the dog was healthy."

"We have conducted a thorough check-up to ensure that rabies vaccines are available in every institution in the region,” said Pavel Serebryakov, vice governor for the Primorye region.

“The failure which occurred in Dalnegorsk hospital defies explanation,” he said.

The child was able to receive the vaccination, Serebryakov confirmed.

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