Everything About the Erroneous COVID-19 Vaccine Given at Bukit Merah Polyclinic

Getting pierced by a sharp, shiny thing is a nightmare for many people.Imagine getting jabbed, thinking that this living nightmare is over to receive a call informing you that it is not.

In fact, you have to go through the nightmare once again.

This is what happened to 117 people.

Everything About the Erroneous COVID-19 Vaccine Given at Bukit Merah Polyclinic

117 people were given a lower dose of COVID-19 vaccine at Bukit Merah polyclinic. Of the 117 people, six of them were staff and the rest were patients.

They received about 10% of the recommended dosage of the Pfizer BioNTech / Comirnaty vaccine. That’s one-tenth of the recommended dosage.

This happened between 20 Oct and 22 Oct.

What Happened?

Apparently, they were using new syringes and there was an error in identifying the markings on them. This is when the error happened.

It was only detected on 22 Oct, two days after the inaccurate doses were given.

Affected patients were contacted and informed of this error after it was detected.

Patients with Reduced Dose are Unlikely to Experience Adverse Reactions

The good news is since only 10% of the proposed doses are given, these patients are unlikely to experience adverse reactions.

However, they do have to go back to get a replacement jab.

As for the replacement jab, it is clinically safe for the affected patients to proceed with a replacement dose. To be safe, these 117 affected patients will be assessed by a doctor first before they get their replacement dosages.

Apology from CEO of SingHealth

Adrian Ee, the Chief Executive Officer of SingHealth Polyclinics apologised for the inconvenience and anxiety caused to all affected patients and family members.

All necessary steps will be taken to rectify the error. That includes the COVID-19 replacement vaccinations, addressing the various concerns from the patients and reminding the staff on the proper usage of the new devices.

Not The First Time

This is not the first time a wrong vaccine dosage was given.

Earlier this year, a staff member of the Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) was injected with an undiluted vaccine that equates to five doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Of course, you may say: too much of a good thing is never bad, right?

Wrong. This doesn’t work for vaccines.

Luckily, the affected staff had no adverse reactions or side effects but the staff member was still warded at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) for two days as a safety measure.

You can read that full article here.

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Featured Image: singhealth.com.sg