In Brazil, two babies were hospitalised after being mistakenly injected with Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine. A nurse vaccinated the two with the jab by accident instead of a vaccine meant to protect against five diseases.
Expose –
The two babies – a two-month-old girl and a four-month-old boy – visited a medical facility at the Sorocaba municipality in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state to get the pentavalent vaccine on December 1st. The vaccine protects children from Diptheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type B disease.
However, the infants experienced high fever and vomiting shortly after returning home. They refused to drink milk, and medicine given by their parents did not help. It was only after Sorocaba Health Secretary Dr Vinicius Rodrigues contacted the two families that the truth emerged. It turned out that both babies received the Covid-19 vaccine by mistake instead of the five-in-one jab.
The two-month-old girl’s mother said: “My life turned upside down. I know everyone makes mistakes, but a mistake like that is unacceptable.”
On December 2nd, the two babies were sent to the local Child Cancer Research and Assistance Group (GPACI) hospital for further treatment. Since being sent to the hospital, the condition of babies has improved significantly. Although, they will not be able to return home for some time.
The GPACI hospital’s clinical director said that this was the first time the facility handled a case of infants mistakenly injected with the covid vaccine.
Following the incident, authorities in Sorocaba reached out to Pfizer, which told them that the infants should be monitored for the next 10 to 15 days. The two babies are now being tested every 48 hours – through blood sample extractions, ultrasound and ECG exams. No complications from the Covid-19 vaccine so far have been observed in the infants.
Meanwhile, health care personnel only discovered the mistake the next day as they were checking the vaccine stocks. The erring nurse said she confused the vials of the covid vaccine and pentavalent jabs because they looked too similar. She has since been suspended pending an administrative probe.
