Credit: New York National Guard, via Flickr
A “small number” of people received a salt-only injection instead of the COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination clinic in Sauk Center on March 12, CentraCare said in a statement to Bring Me The News.
The COVID-19 vaccine is usually mixed with a saline solution before it is administered, but in this case people are only given salt.
“The problem was discovered within a short time and those affected were contacted and scheduled for the actual vaccine,” CentraCare said.
The good news is that there are no medical problems with salt injection.
“We understand the anxiety and disappointment it brings to those who thought they were receiving this long-awaited vaccination,” CentraCare said. “The incident was immediately addressed to relevant staff and new processes were put in place to ensure that the error did not happen again.”
Something similar happened in February on a Hy-Vee in Mankato. Sixty-two people received the vaccine mixed with sterile water, which is commonly used to dilute vaccinations, instead of the salt provided by Pfizer. There was also no cause for medical concern in that incident.
As of March 14, more than 1.2 million Minnesotans had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, with more than 750,000 Minnesotans completing the two-dose vaccine range, according to Minnesota Department of Health data.