Eight caregivers were accidentally given five times the dose of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, but so far none have experienced serious side effects, local authorities in Germany said today.
The eight caregivers, seven women and one man, aged 38 to 54, are employees of a retirement home in the northeastern German town of Stralsund and are therefore the first priority group to receive the 2019 coronavirus disease vaccine.
The vaccine they received was developed jointly by Pfizer and BioNTech. Germany began administering the vaccine last weekend.
However, according to Stefan Kerth, the regional administrator of the retirement home, all eight people were given five times the dose at once when they were vaccinated yesterday, but then learned of the error.
Four people were sent to the hospital for observation after showing mild flu-like symptoms, while the other four were sent home.
Kers said, “I deeply regret this incident.” He added that the bagging incident was an isolated case and was attributed to human error.
He said, “I hope that all those affected will not experience serious side effects.”
Before vaccination efforts began in several European countries over the weekend, German biotech company BioNTech said it had administered larger-than-normal doses in the trial phase and had not experienced serious side effects.
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