Doctor Who Gave Undiluted COVID-19 Vaccine in Hougang Clinic Was a Relief Doctor

Yesterday, it was reported that two adults were given an undiluted vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines each, with one needing hospitalisation after experiencing headache and increased heart rate.

The  person has since been discharged, while the other patient did not report any adverse reaction.

This happened in a ProHealth Medical Group clinic at Hougang on 15 September.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said that the clinic and doctor who administered the vaccine have been suspended from the national vaccination programme until further notice.

So, how did it happen?

That is still unknown, but the clinic has responded.

Doctor Who Gave Undiluted COVID-19 Vaccine in Hougang Clinic Was a Relief Doctor

According to a Prohealth Medical Group spokesman, the doctor who had administered the wrong dosage was a relief doctor who had only started work there two weeks earlier, on 1 September 2022.

She had also worked there on 8 September and 15 September.

The spokesman added, “We have stopped engaging her service as a locum since the date of incident.”

A locum is kind of like a part-time general practitioner who worked in the clinic, and therefore isn’t a permanent doctor there.

Investigations are currently ongoing.

In addition, the group is maintaining close contact with the affected patients and will provide them with the necessary support and assistance.

Similar Incident Last Year in the Singapore National Eye Centre

The same thing happened last year when an employee at the Singapore National Eye Centre was wrongly administered the equivalent of five doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.

Back  then, the employee suffered no adverse reaction or side effects.

The mistake was due to a human error, as the “staff in charge of diluting the vaccine had been called away to attend to other matters during the preparation of the vaccine, and a second staff member had mistaken the undiluted dose in the vial to be ready for administering.”

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