Coronavirus: Doctor at centre of vaccine bungle not trained correctly, Greg Hunt says

The doctor who gave two Queensland people an incorrect dose of the COVID-19 vaccine was not adequately trained in administering the drug.

Health Minister Greg Hunt has confirmed that a doctor who incorrectly administered two Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine overdoses at an aged-care facility in Queensland had not completed the correct training.

It emerged today that an 88-year-old man and a 94-year-old woman were given an overdose at an aged care home in Carseldine, Brisbane, on Tuesday morning.

They were given four times the required dose, which was noticed by a nurse on duty. Neither person has since shown signs of illness as a result of the incident.

Mr Hunt told parliament earlier on Wednesday that all training protocols were in place for the doctor who wrongly administered the Pfizer dose.

After Question Time, he provided an updated statement from Healthcare Australia.

“The revised advice is that on further investigation Healthcare Australia has now advised that the doctor had not completed the required training,” he said.

“This is being investigated by Healthcare Australia and we’re expecting a report later today.”

Wow. Greg Hunt corrects the record. The doctor that gave two elderly Queenslanders an overdose of the Pfizer vaccine HAD NOT completed the required training. @australian#auspolpic.twitter.com/8NJFQvVvyl

— Olivia Caisley (@livcaisley) February 24, 2021

Both patients taken to hospital

The elderly woman who was one of two residents at the aged care home wrongly administered with multiple doses of the vaccine will be taken to hospital for monitoring as a precaution.

Mr Hunt said the couple was not adversely affected by the overdose.

“All are well,” Mr Hunt said. “There have been no adverse outcomes. Both patients are being monitored and both patients are showing no signs at all of an adverse reaction.”

The 94-year-old woman spent Tuesday night at the aged care home, while the 88-year-old man who was also given the incorrect dosage went to hospital.

As a precaution, the woman will also be transported to hospital where staff will monitor her for any side-effects.

The pair were among 95 per cent of residents at the Holy Spirit Home, run by St Vincent’s Care Services, who agreed to be vaccinated on Tuesday morning.

They were the first two at the facility to be given the jab when a nurse alerted the GP administering the vaccine that he had given them the incorrect dosage.

The Australian understands staff at the home were shocked when the GP left the facility after the error became known and did not make declarations about his mistake or check on the welfare of the man and woman.

The nurse and the GP were employed by Healthcare Australia, the contractor tasked by the federal government with rolling out the vaccine in aged care homes around the country.

Mr Hunt said the GP had been stood down and St Vincent’s Care Services will refer him to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.

St Vincents Care Services CEO Lincoln Hopper talks to media on Wednesday. Picture: Lachie Millard

Aged care provider to seek assurances over training

The aged care provider which runs the Holy Spirit Home in Brisbane will seek assurances from the federal government’s healthcare agency about the training and expertise from clinicians before any further vaccines are administered on its sites.

St Vincent’s Care Services chief executive officer Lincoln Hopper confirmed a GP employed by federal government agency Healthcare Australia had given an incorrect dosage of the vaccine to two of its residents on Tuesday.

“The job of administering the vaccine was the role and responsibility of Healthcare Australia,” Mr Hopper said in a statement.

“The health of the two residents is being closely monitored and no adverse effects have been identified.

“This incident has been very distressing to us, to our residents and to their families,” Mr Hopper said.

“It’s also extremely concerning. It’s caused us to question whether some of the clinicians given the job of administering the vaccine have received the appropriate training.

“Certainly, health authorities and contracted vaccination providers should be re-emphasising to their teams the need to exercise greater care so an error like this doesn’t happen again.”

Mr Hopper said assurances would be sought from Healthcare Australia and its practitioners before any future vaccinations at its sites.

“Before vaccinations are allowed to continue at any of our sites, Healthcare Australia – or any other provider – will need to confirm the training and expertise of the clinicians they’ve engaged so an incident like this doesn’t happen again,” Mr Hopper said.

‘Not good enough’: Palasczcuk slams overdose

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the incident is “just not good enough”, and demanded Prime Minister Scott Morrison call a national cabinet meeting.

Ms Palaszczuk told parliament that the situation was “very concerning”.

She said Queensland authorities were only notified by the federal government late on Tuesday night, which she described as “just not good enough” and insisted the program was “entirely the responsibility” of the Morrison government, which has leaned on private contractors to deliver the jab.

She said she would write to Mr Morrison asking for more details of the federal program, and calling for a national cabinet meeting soon to discuss the issues.

“Mr Speaker, none of this is good enough and the federal government must explain itself,” she said. “Today I will write to the Prime Minister asking him to convene a National Cabinet as soon as possible.

“I want to know what training is provided to the people the federal government is employing to administer the vaccines in our Aged Care facilities. I want to know about the communications strategies for the next phases of the rollout of the vaccine.”

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said the state was seeking more information and “assurances” from the federal government “over the rigour of the training” given to people administering the vaccine in aged care.

Ms D’Ath told parliament that Commonwealth authorities contacted Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young on Tuesday night, after the overdosing incident occurred on Tuesday morning.

The Health Minister said she then contacted her federal counterpart Greg Hunt, and QLD Health immediately responded. The executive director of medical services at Queensland’s Metro North Hospital and Health Service worked with the Holy Spirit aged care centre at Carseldine to make sure the elderly people were being looked after.

Ms D’Ath said: “I’m advised both patients are not showing any adverse reactions”.

Their families were advised on Tuesday.

She said Queensland was seeking more details from the federal government, and was pleased the Commonwealth had agreed to share its investigation findings with the state.

“We’re seeking assurances from the Commonwealth over the rigour of the training,” she said.

‘No serious risk’ from vaccine overdose

Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said dosage volumes had been shown not to lead to adverse health effects.

“In the early clinical trials of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine, they did actually experiment with different doses of the product, including one three or four times higher than what have eventually been the prescribed doses,” Dr Kelly said.

“During those trials, the side effect data was not a higher problem, so there’s that element.

“Second of all, as has been mentioned by the minister, we are aware of several cases like this happening early in the phased rollout through residential aged care facility dents in Germany and the UK.

“Again, the side effect profile was minimal, particularly in older people, so that gives us hope.”

Dr Kelly said the training could be modified to prevent further mistakes.

“There may be a need for us to modify that going forward,” he said. “We will be looking at why that didn’t take place as part of that incident management.

“That doctor is not going to be delivering further vaccines at the moment.”