Dozens jabbed with saline instead of Pfizer at Deepdene medical surgery
Dozens of people who believed they had been jabbed with Pfizer may still be unvaccinated after a concerning medical mix-up.
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Dozens of people who thought they had received a dose of the Pfizer vaccine may still be unvaccinated after a medical bungle.
Deepdene Surgery, in Melbourne’s east, has confirmed 30 people who attended vaccination appointments on Sunday may have instead been jabbed with a saline injection.
In a statement issued today the surgery said a mistake occurred while staff were drawing up Pfizer vaccines.
The surgery has not yet been able to contact every person believed to be affected.
“Deepdene Surgery have protocols in place to prevent errors. Unfortunately, an error occurred, as empty vaccine vials were used for preparing some of the syringes intended for vaccination,” the statement said.
“This error has not caused any physical harm to these affected people. However we acknowledge this may have caused worry or distress and we apologise for that.”
The surgery said the 30 people may or may not have received the vaccine.
“People who did not receive the vaccine would have received an injection of saline (salt solution).
“The saline did not contain any vaccines or drugs. An injection of saline does not cause any harm.”
The surgery said people who attended appointments between 1pm and 1.30pm may have been affected.
The Department of Health’s COVID-19 Response team and Surveillance of Adverse effects in the community (SAEFVIC) have been alerted.
“SAEFVIC met with us on Wednesday 29th September,” the surgery said.
“We are following SAEFVIC’s advice to ensure patient safety of the best outcomes.
“As of Thursday 30th September, we have and are still in the process of contacting the affected people.
“We at Deepdene Surgery are very sorry this has occurred and have reviewed our processes to avoid this from happening again.”
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