North Carolina Walgreens accidentally gives salt instead of COVID-19 vaccine

A Walgreens in North Carolina accidentally vaccinated some patients with salt rather than the COVID-19 vaccine.

The confusion occurred with ‘a limited number of patients’, one of the pharmacies in Monroe, North Carolina, Walgreens told FOX Business.

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The store immediately issued to every person who received salt incorrectly and instituted a COVID-19 vaccination “as soon as the patients involved were available to return to the pharmacy,” Walgreens said.

A Walgreens pharmacy in Miami Beach, Florida. (Jeffrey Greenberg / Education Images / Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

“We are investigating what happened and took immediate steps to review our location procedures to prevent it from happening again,” Walgreens said.

Walgreens does not believe that the confusion harms the patients.

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The company also noted that it will not affect the patient’s second dose.

However, this situation is not unique to Walgreens. In March, a Kroger clinic in Virginia mistakenly injected clients with empty syringes rather than giving them the actual COVID-19 vaccine.

Ticker Safety Last Alter Alter%
WBA WALGREENS BOOTS ALLIANCE, INC. 53.61 +0.31 + 0.58%
KR KROGER 37.50 +0.41 + 1.11%

Originally, Kroger thought customers were injected with salt rather than the vaccine, calling it an ‘honest mistake’. WTVR report. But it turned out that the syringes were not in it at all.

Similarly, customers were also immediately notified of the accident and, according to Kroger, received a proper COVID-19 shot.

VIRGINIA KROGER LOCATION accidentally issued empty COVID-19 shots

The two accidents come as both companies accelerate efforts to vaccinate Americans.

Walgreens and Kroger began vaccinations at the end of December as part of the Pharmacists’ Partnership for Long-Term Care Program.

In March, Kroger had already delivered one million doses a week to its pharmacies and clinics.

To date, Walgreens has administered more than 11 million COVID-19 vaccines in its 7,000 off-site stores and clinics.

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