LORTON, Va. — Another incident of children receiving an incorrect dose of the COVID-19 vaccine was reported on Tuesday by Fairfax County officials, resulting in a local pharmacy being removed from state and federal COVID-19 vaccination programs.
According to a post on the Fairfax County Emergency Information page, both the Fairfax County Health Department and the Virginia Department of Health were made aware that KC Pharmacy in Lorton incorrectly administered COVID-19 vaccines to children aged five to 11 years old by giving them doses made for children 12 and older.
The shots, which contained the Pfizer formulation, were administered to 25 children between Nov. 2 and Nov. 10. Since then, the Fairfax County Health Department has reached out to the parents of the children to make them aware of the incident and provide guidance.
The post also noted how KC Pharmacy has been removed from both state and federal COVID-19 vaccination programs. All vaccine inventory the pharmacy had has been turned over to the health department.
The case is now being investigated by the Virginia Board of Pharmacy.
Health officials encouraged any parents impacted by incorrect dosages to contact their child's pediatrician or health care provider. Based on CDC guidelines, they said parents could choose to restart their child's vaccine series at least 21 days after their incorrect dose was given or proceed with the second dose as scheduled.
The notification of the pharmacy case came just a day after parents were made aware of 98 children being given the wrong dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at South Lake Elementary School in Gaithersburg on Nov. 10.
According to a press release from Montgomery County, the county's Department of Health and Human Services realized that children received an over-diluted dosage three days after the children were vaccinated at a school clinic and immediately notified officials. Health experts say there are no known side effects in getting a lower-than-recommended dosage.
Dr. Clarence Lam, the director of occupational health at Johns Hopkins Health System, spoke to WUSA 9 on Tuesday and said the many vaccination clinics have had to undergo quick training and education to administer the doses for children.
"There are a lot of checks and balances that would be in place to make sure this doesn’t occur," Lam said. "Obviously here, it was some kind of systemic breakdown. There was probably a breakdown in protocol somewhere in how the vaccine vials were handled.”
Dr. Lam noted that adult doses have a different colored cap on the vaccine vial compared to the ones for children.
"Ideally, you would actually have two people verify how the dose and the vials are being diluted before it’s being administered," he said. "Normally the two folks that are diluting this would verify it’s the right amount of diluting, ensure that it’s the right type of vial with the colored capping, and then administer it as a diluted dose.”
In the months ahead, Dr. Lam believed the number of children receiving a wrong shot would decrease as medical teams become more familiar with administering the doses.
"Hopefully, as the pediatric doses become more widely available and pharmacists and providers become more accustomed to this, the risks of this occurring would go down," he said. "Obviously, we’re concerned about instances like this because these are some of our most vulnerable individuals as kids and we want to make sure we get them the right doses.”
Most importantly, Dr. Lam hoped more families would get their children vaccinated to give them the best protection against the deadly virus.
"We need to reassure parents and children and students that the vaccine is very effective," he said.
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