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Originally posted by wtg:
Yea, I heard. He brought his own epi pen, so sounds like he has allergies.

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Four northern German health care workers were sent to the hospital on Sunday after being accidentally given five times the recommended dose of coronavirus vaccine.

Officials from the Vorpommern-Ruegen district reported that eight workers in an elderly care facility had received an overdose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, with four developing flu-like symptoms and being monitored as a precautionary measure. When the mistake was discovered, the workers, who are between the ages 37 and 54, were informed and sent home.

“I deeply regret the incident,” district chief Stefan Kerth said in a statement obtained The Hill. “This individual case is due to individual errors. I hope that all those affected do not experience any serious side-effects.”

District authorities cited previous statements from BioNTech that indicated that larger doses were used in the first phase of trials and did not lead to serious consequences.

Pfizer and BioNTech pointed out that for those who receive an overdose of the vaccine, "monitoring of vital functions and possible symptomatic treatment is recommended."

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Originally posted by Piano*Dad:
How on earth is it possible to give someone 5X the normal dose. That's obvious medical malpractice.

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Dozens of people in West Virginia were mistakenly given Regeneron’s Covid-19 antibody treatment instead of the Moderna vaccine, the West Virginia National Guard announced Thursday.

The state’s National Guard said 42 people received the treatment, which is given intravenously, at a vaccination clinic staffed by the Boone County Health Department. The National Guard said it learned of the error on Wednesday.

Everyone who received the antibody treatment instead of the vaccine, which is given via a shot in the arm, have been contacted, Julie Miller, an administrator for the Boone County Health Department, told CNBC by email. She added that “we do not believe there is any risk of harm.”

Regeneron’s monoclonal antibody treatment, which needs to be administered through an IV drip, is seen as a promising treatment for Covid-19 — especially when administered early on in the course of infection. But the mix-up in West Virginia is just one example of confusion in the rush to distribute the vaccine to tens of millions of people. The rollout has been slower than expected and marked by logistical challenges.

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A Wisconsin hospital employee has been fired and arrested after removing dozens of vials of the coronavirus vaccine from a pharmacy refrigerator, intentionally destroying more than 500 doses, a hospital investigation found.

The incident happened over the weekend at the Aurora Medical Center in Grafton, north of Milwaukee. Grafton police announced the arrest of the pharmacist Thursday, but did know name the man or identify a motive.

Police said in a statement they arrested the former employee on suspicion of recklessly endangering safety, adulterating a prescription drug and criminal damage to property. The damage he caused "was estimated to be between $8,000 and $11,000," police said.

Initially, it appeared that the 57 vials of the Moderna vaccine — which must be kept between 36 and 46 degrees Fahrenheit — had been left out overnight accidentally, hospital officials said. Each vial holds approximately 10 doses of the vaccine.

But Wednesday, the Aurora Medical Center announced the hospital worker involved "acknowledged that they intentionally removed the vaccine from refrigeration."

"We continue to believe that vaccination is our way out of the pandemic. We are more than disappointed," the hospital said in a statement, adding that the employee has been terminated. "This was a violation of our core values."

The Moderna vaccine has a 12-hour window once it has been thawed. Most doses of the vaccine that had been left out of the pharmacy refrigerator had to be discarded, although hospital officials later believed they could salvage some. After the hospital administered more than 50 doses of the vaccines that had been thawed, it learned the shots had actually been thawed twice, rendering them ineffective, a hospital official said Thursday at a press conference. The hospital said all those who received an ineffective vaccine have been notified and that those individuals are not at risk.

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Doctors in the United Kingdom are pushing back on health officials’ decision to change the vaccine schedule on Pfizer’s Covid-19 immunizations, saying it fails to “follow the science.”

U.K. health regulators on Wednesday said they would prioritize giving as many people their first dose of vaccine as quickly as possible, which could delay providing those who have already been inoculated their second dose by up to 12 weeks. Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, which it developed with BioNTech, recommends administering the second shot three weeks after the initial dose.

The decisions would also apply to the two-dose coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, which the U.K. authorized for emergency use on Wednesday. Initial doses are expected to be rolled out next week and will be added to a Covid-19 immunization program started by Britain in December with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

“We have real and grave concerns about these sudden changes to the Pfizer vaccine regime,” the Doctors’ Association UK, a non-profit advocacy group of volunteer medical professionals, said in a tweet Thursday. “It undermines the consent process, as well as completely failing to follow the science.”

The organization said in a statement that they recognize the decision to change the regime was likely difficult considering the pressure the nation’s hospitals are facing from Covid-19 patients. However, the protection shown after only one dose is “considerably lower” than if they were given two shots.