Four northern German health workers were sent to hospital on Sunday after accidentally receiving the recommended dose of coronavirus vaccine five times.
Officials from the Vorpommern-Ruegen district reported that eight workers in an elderly care unit had received an overdose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, with four developed flu-like symptoms and as a precautionary measure. When the fault was discovered, the workers, who were between the ages of 37 and 54, were informed and sent home.
“I deeply regret the incident,” district chief Stefan Kerth said in a statement from The Hill. ‘This individual case is due to individual errors. I hope everyone affected does not experience any serious side effects. ”
District authorities cited previous statements from BioNTech indicating that larger doses were used in the first phase of trials and did not lead to serious consequences.
Pfizer and BioNTech have pointed out that monitoring of vital functions and possible symptomatic treatment is recommended for those receiving an overdose of the vaccine. ‘
The incident took place days after Germany and the Roll-out of the European Union of the vaccine, EU approved drug regulator last week. The US and the UK approved the vaccine earlier this month and have started giving the first doses in recent weeks.
Together with Pfizer, the EU has contracts with AstraZeneca and Moderna for its vaccination campaign and plans to vaccinate 6.25 million people by the end of the year.
Some German districts have refused to use the vaccine doses received over the weekend out of concern because the required cold conditions for the vaccine were interrupted during childbirth, Reuters reported on Monday. The Pfizer vaccine should be sent at a temperature between -112 degrees and -76 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
—Updated at 2:25 p.m.