A shot for nothing? Hundreds of patients who received their vaccines from a Northern California supplier may have in fact gotten an insufficient dosage of the COVID vaccine. This was announced this week by the supplier.
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Nearly 4,000 people received a Pfizer vaccine in the Walnut Creek medical centre (California) from October 25 to December 10 last year. However, according to the medical centre, the patients received between 0.01 and 0.04 mL less than the recommended 0.30 mL dose.
Officials say they consulted experts in infectious diseases and vaccine science as soon as they became aware of the problem, as well as consulting guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A new dose for those asking
Officials declared:
All experts agreed the difference between the recommended dose and the dose an individual may have received was not significant and not likely to reduce their protection against COVID-19. [...] Nevertheless, Kaiser Permanente is offering to provide a repeat dose of Pfizer vaccine to any affected individual who wishes to receive it, offering special hours and locations.
The issue apparently came from 'some staff misunderstanding instructions.' The medical centre claimed these staff members were replaced and that the supplier is 'continuously monitoring so this does not happen again.'
A mistake that's hardly unusual
This is not the first time that incorrect doses were injected. Just last November, over a dozen children were administered wrong vaccine doses in another vaccination clinic, once more in Northern California. The supplier did not point out whether these were above or below the recommended dosage.
