On Monday, several patients at a Massachusetts CVS pharmacy were given incorrect doses of the Modern coronavirus vaccine.
A CVS spokesman told DailyMail.com that the Ipswich pharmacy, 30 miles from Boston, gave some people a dose of 0.3 milliliters (ml) instead of the correct recommended 0.5 ml dose. by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
That’s 40 percent lower than the dose they should have received.
It is unclear how many patients were affected by the error, but the spokesman described it as “a limited number.”
“We have contacted all the affected patients to apologize for this incident and answer any questions they may have,” the spokesman said.
“We have reported it to the relevant regulatory agencies and have taken the necessary steps to prevent it from happening again.”
A CVS in Ipswich, Massachusetts (pictured), on Monday gave a “limited number of patients” the wrong dose of the Modern coronavirus vaccine
Patients received a dose of 0.3 milliliters (ml), 40% lower than the correct dose of 0.5 ml recommended by CDC. In the photo: three vials of the Modern COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in Berlin, Germany, on February 17
Doctors and the CDC say that as long as the patient’s first vaccine is a half-dose, or 0.25 ml, they will be fully protected once they receive a second dose. Currently, the US vaccinates between 1.6 and 1.7 million people a day
Carol Kennedy Hurley, of Arlington, was one of the patients who received an incorrect dose at CVS in Ipswich.
He told WCVB that he received a call from a pharmacist on the spot and was told that he was given the 0.3 ml recommended for the Pfizer shot instead of the Modern one.
“A certain number of people who came in on Monday did not receive the proper dose,” he said.
“The pharmacist who worked at CVS on Monday had been before distributing the Pfizer vaccine and, unintentionally, should have mixed it up.”
Doctors say that receiving at least half a dose (0.25 ml) will still offer protection until the time of the second scheduled dose.
“It’s probably still effective, but we don’t have a lot of data,” Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, told DailyMail.com. e-mail.
Hotez added that Dr. Moncef Slaoui, the head of the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed program, “even said that giving half a dose may even be an acceptable strategy.”
Recently, a study was published in the journal Vaccine using data from Moderna’s Phase II trials, suggesting that the company’s coronavirus trait may trigger a strong immune response even through medium doses.
The researchers examined the levels of antibodies that bind to the ear protein (which the virus uses to infect cells) and the levels of neutralizing antibodies that kill the virus.
They found that the current two-dose regimen and half of that amount were capable of eliciting “significant” immune responses.
However, health officials do not recommend that patients receive half doses of the vaccine at this time.
As of Thursday, 41 million Americans (12.5% of the population) have received a dose and 16.1 million (4.9% of the population) are fully immunized.
At least 73 million doses have been administered, and President Joe Biden is now on track to meet the goal of 100 million shots in his first 100 days in office.
The CVS spokesman told DailyMail.com that, based on CDC and clinical guidelines, it is not recommended that patients affected by the error receive a third dose.
Those who receive the 0.3 ml dose can get the second and last time next month, and will still have complete protection.
Kennedy Hurley told WCVB he had an appointment for his final dose scheduled in four weeks.
“I think it’s very important that people who do the vaccines are aware of the fact that if they don’t do it right, people will assume it’s okay and not,” he said.
Currently, the United States vaccinates between 1.6 and 1.7 million Americans a day against COVID-19, an increase from less than a million a month ago.
President Joe Biden is currently on track to meet his goal of 100 million shots in his first 100 days in office, but the pace must be accelerated to reach his plan to vaccinate almost all adults by the end of summer.
As of Thursday, 41 million Americans (12.5% of the population) have received a dose and 16.1 million (4.9% of the population) are fully immunized.
