4-year-old mistakenly given COVID-19 vaccine instead of flu shot

FITCHBURG, Mass. — A CVS pharmacy technician who was supposed to give a 4-year-old boy a flu shot mistakenly gave him a dose of the pediatric COVID-19 vaccine instead, WFXT reported.

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Meghan Cameron told WFXT that she took her son, Jack, to get a flu shot at a CVS in Fitchburg.

“He got a shot in his left arm and the pharmacy tech said instantly, ‘Oh my God, oh my God,’” she told the news station. “I said, ‘What?’ and she said, ‘I just gave him the COVID vaccine.’”

Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention allowed for children between the ages of 5 and 11 to get pediatric COVID-19 vaccine doses. The shots are one-third of the dose given to older children and adults.

>> Related: Coronavirus: CDC approves Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 5 to 11

The vaccine has not been authorized for children under the age of 5.

“I couldn’t believe that happened,” Cameron told WFXT. “I didn’t think it was real. I was concerned for Jack.”

She said CVS called Pfizer, who developed the vaccine with German biotechnology company BioNTech, and that the company called the CDC. Officials told Cameron not to give Jack another COVID-19 vaccine dose until after he turns 5, WFXT reported. Jack had just turned 4 in July.

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She told WFXT that she was afraid until after she talked to Jack’s pediatrician.

“He did say it’s a very small dose and it’s safe,” she said. “He thinks that Jack will be fine just to monitor him.”

In a statement obtained by WFXT, officials with CVS said they are investigating “a vaccine administration error” but declined to comment specifically on the case, citing the need for a signed authorization to do so.

“In the event of such an incident, we reported it to (the Department of Health and Human Service’s) Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting Systems and take steps to help prevent it from occurring again,” the statement said.

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