This month, Leah covered how children as young as 5 in San Francisco will soon have to show proof of vaccination against the Wuhan coronavirus for certain indoor settings. This comes after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approved a lower-dose version of the Pfizer vaccine for kids ages 5 to 11.
Shortly after, I covered how two children in Texas were accidentally given adult dosages of the vaccine at a Halloween pop-up clinic. Now, reports have surfaced that a clinic in a nearby city accidentally injected 14 children with the wrong dosage of the vaccine.
Over the weekend, 14 children were given the wrong dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at a pediatric vaccine clinic in Antioch, California. The clinic that administered the botched vaccines was operated by Sutter Health.
In a statement to local outlet KTLA 5, Dr. Jimmy Hu, chair of the Sutter Health COVID-19 Task Force and Pediatrician, confirmed that the error occurred and that they are reviewing their process to keep it from happening again.
"Fourteen patients at our Antioch pediatric vaccine clinic received vaccines with an incorrect amount of diluent. As soon as we learned this, we contacted the parents and advised them of CDC guidance in this situation," Hu said in his statement. "The safety of our patients is our top priority, and we immediately reviewed our processes to help make sure this doesn't happen again."
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Hu added that the patients who received the incorrect dosage of the vaccine may experience fatigue, arm soreness, and fever.
Denise Iserloth, the mother of two of the children who received the wrong dosage of the vaccine, said the clinic notified her about 10 hours after the fact. Reportedly, Iserloth's sons, ages 8 and 11, were both given 20 micrograms of the vaccine instead of the recommended 10. She said that both children were home sick with bad stomach aches on Monday.
"We would have assumed that there was more in place to prevent this from happening, but obviously at this place there wasn't," her husband, Shawn Iserloth, said to local outlet KGO-TV.
"They absolutely failed my children and the other 12 children involved," Denise Iserloth added. "[It's] unacceptable, you expect your medical professionals to give you correct doses."
Last month, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's office announced that students will be required to be vaccinated for in-person learning starting the term following the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) full approval of the vaccine for the grade span 7-12 and K-6.
"The state already requires that students are vaccinated against viruses that cause measles, mumps, and rubella – there's no reason why we wouldn't do the same for COVID-19," Newsom said in his announcement. "Vaccines work. It's why California leads the country in preventing school closures and has the lowest case rates. We encourage other states to follow our lead to keep our kids safe and prevent the spread of COVID-19."
"I understand the mandate, I tried to comply with it, and my children now have been given a double dose and I don't know the long term side effects," Denise Iserloth said in her interview with KGO-TV. "There has been nothing clarified as to how this happened to our children and the other 12 children involved and it is unacceptable and negligent, completely negligent on their part."
