An estimated 112 children in Loudoun County, Virginia received partial doses of the adult coronavirus vaccine last week because a local clinic did not yet have the shots for children.
The Loudoun County Health Department said in a letter to parents of the affected children that Ted Pharmacy, located in Aldie, VA, "incorrectly administered" partial doses of adult Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines to kids on Nov. 3 and Nov. 4.
"Because they did not have the children’s formulation they used the adult formulation but only gave a third of the amount to the children," the health department’s director, David Goodfriend, told The Washington Post. "Our understanding from Ted Pharmacy is they were trying to do a workaround, which is not authorized."
"If it doesn’t all go in, or it goes into the body but doesn’t go into the muscle, or you didn’t draw it up exactly to the [correct] line, there’s a chance you might get too little vaccine," he continued, adding that it is also possible that too much vaccine was administered.
This comes after the Food and Drug Administration last month authorized the Pfizer vaccine for emergency use in children ages 5 to 11.
Individuals who are at least 12-years-old should receive a .3-milliliter dose of vaccine while children ages 5 to 11 are only supposed to receive a .2-milliliter dose, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The pharmacy will no longer be permitted to offer the vaccine and its remaining doses have been transferred to the local health department, the letter to parents noted. The pharmacy was also ordered to contact the parents of the kids who received the shots.
Additionally, the parents were sent guidance from the CDC, informing them that, after contacting their family's primary care doctor or child's pediatrician, their children should either get their second dose of the vaccine in three weeks as planned, or they should restart the two-shot series after that time.
Goodfriend pointed out that the issue was raised after a "good observant parent" noticed the shot given to her child came from a vial with the wrong color cap.
Dasha Hermosilla told Fox 5 that she saw her 7-year-old daughter receiving the vaccine with the purple cap, which is intended for those 12 and up, instead of the one with the orange cap that is authorized for children ages 5 to 11.
"I would have never done this if I knew they were giving the adult reformulated vaccine. Absolutely not," Dasha Hermosilla said. "I should’ve pushed [the pharmacy employee] to show me the vial of orange, which she didn’t have, and then I should’ve left."
The board of pharmacy told the local Washington, D.C. outlet that it was unable to disclose whether or not an investigation into a possible violation of law or regulation is underway.