Story By: James King, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash
An Israeli pharmacist has claimed he is “feeling fine” after accidentally being injected with up to 5 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at once.
As a pharmacist working on the frontline in Israel where he regularly deals with sick people potentially infected by the virus, Uday Azizi qualified to be one of the first people to receive the new vaccine and turned up at the Shlomo Group Arena in Tel Aviv at 3.07pm on Monday to get the jab.
However, the nurse administering the shot did not realise that each vial of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine contained up to five doses, and sometimes even more.
As a result, Azizi ended up with up to five times the usual amount and ended up being taken to hospital when the vaccine centre realised the mistake.
However, he appears to have suffered no ill effects other than some redness and swelling around the area where he received the injection.
The bad news is that despite the mix up, he still needs to go for the follow-up injection in three weeks but said this time he will hopefully only get a single dose.
Pfizer had reportedly carried out tests for a similar scenario where up to five doses were accidentally given to a single patient and found there were no side effects other than localised irritation in the injection area.
Speaking to local Channel 12 news, Azizi said he was not bothered when he was told about the mistake, adding: “I have no problem with getting several doses again. Let’s be optimistic… about the vaccine, the entire situation, and the new year maybe.”
The Ministry of Health said in response to the incident: “This is one case. It is being investigated by the Ministry of Health and we will be sending out another letter tightening up the procedure for the entire health system.
“The Ministry of Health is continuing to conduct the vaccination process and will continue to update procedures as such exceptional incidents occur in order to improve the operation.”
Israel began a national vaccination programme over the weekend with medical workers first in line, and this week they started vaccinating people aged 60 and over.
As of yesterday, the country’s health minister revealed that around 30,000 Israelis had been vaccinated as the country faces a rise in daily infections.
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