A pharmacist at a Maryland Walgreens mistakenly gave a four-year-old girl the COVID vaccine instead of a flu shot.
The child, Colette Olivier, was injected with the adult dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. It is currently only approved for children who are at least 12-years-old.
Victoria Olivier, the girl’s mother, told the Baltimore Sun that it was a “record scratch” moment that has left her with dire fears about her daughter’s health.
“All of us were just stunned,” Olivier said. “No one really knew what to do, of course.”
The child currently appears to be doing well, the paper reported.
A spokesperson from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration told the Baltimore Sun that they have no idea about the safety of the vaccine being given to a four-year-old.
“FDA has not evaluated data pertaining to the safety and effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for use in children younger than 12 years of age, nor has FDA approved or authorized the vaccine for emergency use for this pediatric population,” the spokesperson said. “We are glad to hear that the child is doing well and hope that she eventually received her flu vaccine.”
Walgreens spokesperson Phil Caruso told the paper that these types of mistakes are “extremely rare.”
“We are in touch with the patient’s family and we have apologized,” Caruso said. “Our multistep vaccination procedure includes several safety checks to minimize the chance of human error. We’ve recently reviewed this process with our pharmacy staff in order to prevent a future occurrence.”
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