An 8-year-old boy accidentally received a dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Texas, thanks to a “human error,” according to a report.
The boy was recently inoculated at a Dallas County-run, Lifeguard-operated vaccination facility in Grand Prairie after the boy’s father registered him online through a county website and had an appointment. , as reported by NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth.
The three COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the U.S. can only be used in people over the age of 18 or over the age of 16, depending on the manufacturer.
Pediatrician Marcial Oquendo told the press that the boy’s father, who was unidentified, believed it was okay for his son to be vaccinated, as he was able to register and was given a QR code.
“I took it for granted that I would send him the information and get an appointment,” Oquendo said. “And when he got a date, he said, ‘We all had a date, so let’s go.'”
The father only realized that a mistake had been made after talking to Oquendo.
“We don’t have the data, especially under-12s, to say if it works, it’s safe, how much should we use, which child can get it and which can’t,” Oquendo said. “It must be in a controlled environment of a clinical trial in which we are monitoring every possible angle to be able to tell if it is safe and effective to use in children of this age group.”
The head of the Grand Prairie fire department, Robert Fite, confirmed to NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth that the boy was one of 3,800 people who were inoculated at the scene that day.
Fite said the department plans to track down the paramedic who administered the shooting and find out more about how the incident occurred.
“They’re in the car, there’s a code, the paramedic did what that paramedic did for thousands of others that day, he went on and gave the vaccine, and he didn’t realize he was a child under 18 “, he said. Fite, according to NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth.
Fite explained that if a person receives a QR code to get the vaccine, “part of our assumption is that they understand who should register and who shouldn’t.”
Fite said the vaccine site operates under the authority of Dallas County and is also seeking answers from county officials.
“We had some questions about how an under-18 could even register,” he said. “If there was a system of failures in place, we wouldn’t even have to worry because it couldn’t be logged.”
Oquendo, meanwhile, said he reported the case to the Pediatric Society and the Dallas County Medical Society, according to the news site.
“We keep trying to figure out what to do next,” he said. “We’re trying to figure out who should know what.”
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins told the news that “human error” allowed the boy to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
“It was included in the list of ineligible grants. A human error occurred and this list was moved to get people under 50 to be on the eligible list. They didn’t manage to scrub people under the age of 18, ”Jenkins said.
Jenkins added, “We have our IT department working with a third-party company to make sure it doesn’t happen again, to see if it can be fully automated.”
“We have more training for our doctors, so they know if they see a person who does not seem to be old enough for this vaccine, understanding that we do not vaccinate anyone under 16 or anyone under 18 if it’s Johnson & Johnson or Modern, ”Jenkins said.
Both Pfizer and Moderna have begun testing their COVID-19 vaccines on younger children.
Pfizer said late last month that its vaccine is 100% effective in children ages 12 to 15.