An 8-year-old boy accidentally received a dose of COVID-19 in Texas due to a human error, “reads a report.
The child was recently vaccinated at a Dallas County vaccine system operated by first responders in Grand Prairie, after the boy’s son registered him online via a website of the country and got an appointment, reports NBC 5 Dallas -Fort Worth.
The three COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the US have been used only for individuals 18 and older or 16 and older, depending on the manufacturer.
Pediatrician Marcial Oquendo told the newspaper that the father of the child – who has not been identified – believes it is okay to have his son vaccinated as he is able to register and a QR code get.
“He was under the assumption that ‘I would submit his information and that he would get an appointment,'” Oquendo said. “And when he got an appointment, he was like, ‘We all have an appointment, so let’s go. ”
The father only realized that a mistake had been made after talking to Oquendo.
“We do not have the data, especially under the age of 12 to say if it works, is it safe, how much should we use, which child can get it and which children do not,” Oquendo said. “It should be in a controlled environment of a clinical trial where we monitor every possible angle to be able to tell if it is safe and effective to use in children in this age group.”
Grand Prairie Fire Chief Robert Fite confirmed to NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth that the boy was one of about 3,800 people vaccinated at the site that day.
Fite said the department plans to locate the paramedic who administered the shot and find out more information about how the accident occurred.
“They’re in the car, there’s a code, the paramedic did what the paramedic did for thousands of others for that day and went ahead and gave the vaccination, not realizing it was a child under the age of 18. was not, “he said. Fite, according to NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth.
Fite explained that if a person receives a QR code to get the vaccine, ‘part of our assumption is that they understand who should be registered and who should not,’
Fite said the vaccine works under the authority of Dallas County, and that it is also seeking answers from provincial officials.
“We had some questions about how a child under 18 can even register,” he said. “If there is a failure system, we do not even have to worry because you can not be registered.”
Meanwhile, Oquendo said according to the news website that he had notified the Pediatric Society and Dallas County Medical Society.
“We are still trying to figure out what to do next,” he said. “We’re trying to figure out who needs to know.”
Judge Clay Jenkins, county of Dallas, told the news office ‘human error’ allowed the boy to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
‘He’s on the suspended list who is not eligible. There were human errors, and the list was transferred to get people under 50 on the appropriate list. “They could not scrub for people under 18,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins added: ‘Our IT department works with the third-party company to ensure this does not happen again. See if it can be fully automated. ‘
‘We have more training for medics so that they know if they see a person who is apparently not old enough for the vaccine, so that they understand that we are not giving any vaccine to anyone under the age of 16 or anyone. younger than 18 than Johnson & Johnson or Moderna, ”Jenkins said.
Both Pfizer and Moderna have started testing their COVID-19 vaccines in younger children.
Pfizer said late last month that the vaccine is 100 percent effective in children aged 12 to 15 years.