Hospital accidentally gives woman wrong second Covid vaccine in ‘first error of its kind in Britain’
A BLUNDERING hospital accidentally gave a woman the wrong Covid vaccine when she went for her second jab - reportedly saying it was the first error of its kind in Britain.
The woman was given the Pfizer jab despite being given the AstraZeneca jab first time around at Swindon's Great Western Hospital.
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The hospital said it was carrying out a review to ensure lessons are learned from the incident and it doesn't happen again.
Despite the mix-up the woman reportedly felt okay afterwards, but she and her husband, who want to remain anonymous, said they were still furious at the mix up.
They said when she booked her appointment at the hospital in Swindon, Wilts., she made it clear she had already been given the AstraZeneca vaccine.
'IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE'
Her husband said: "I couldn't believe it, it's a huge error and very concerning.
"They told us this is the first time it's happened - not just in Swindon but in the UK."
The husband, who himself was going for his first jab at the same time, said: "The call handler asked her which vaccine she had last time so we assumed that would be written down and passed on to the medics.
It does not make sense, there should be a number of fail safes in place to ensure this does not happen. We couldn't understand how or why this had occurred.
Husband
"We split up into different rooms and when we came out, she told me what happened.";
His wife said that at no point during the appointment did the healthcare staff ask to see the card given to her after her first vaccine although she put it face-up on the table in clear view.
He added: "Afterwards a doctor came out and said sorry but said we think you will be ok.
"It does not make sense, there should be a number of fail safes in place to ensure this does not happen. We couldn't understand how or why this had occurred."
Trials are currently underway in Britain to test whether Covid vaccines can be mixed with different types of jabs used for first and second doses.
Health experts generally agree that the mixing and matching of the vaccines should be safe, but the trial is needed to check for any side-effects or unwanted reactions.
A spokesperson for Great Western Hospital said: "We have offered our sincere apologies for giving her a different Covid-19 vaccine as her second dose.
"We have taken advice from the South West Clinical Advice and Response Service, an external service that provides vaccination centres with expert advice and guidance.
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"It advised that both of the currently authorised vaccines in this situation are based on the spike protein and so the second dose will work as it should to boost the response to the first dose.
"For this reason, no further doses are required, and we do not anticipate any ill effects arising from this."
They added: "We are reviewing the current pathways within our vaccination hub to learn from this incident and make sure similar incidents are avoided in the future."