Israeli pharmacist Uday Azizi was accidentally given five doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at once after the nurse taking care of him believed one vial was equal to one dose… I mean that does make sense.
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One of the first to get jabbed
As a frontline health worker, Uday was qualified to be one of the first people in Isreal to receive the new jab. So, he popped over to the Shlomo Group Arena in Tel Aviv on Monday afternoon to get his first of two jabs.
However, vials of the vaccine actually contain up to five doses, and Uday received the whole lot
After professionals realised the mistake, Uday was taken straight to the hospital for assessment but luckily, aside from some mild redness and swelling, the optimist claims to feel totally fine.
The real kicker is, despite having multiple doses of thevaccine, the pharmacist will still have to go in for his second jab in a few weeks time.
Pfizer saw it coming
Predicting this very scenario would happen, Pfizer actually carried out tests where patients were given up to five doses of the vaccine each. However, just like Uday, they suffered from no real ill-effects aside from mild irritation at the injection site.
The Times of Israel reported that the pharmacist spoke to Channel 12 News, claiming that the mistake didn’t panic him at all:
I have no problem with getting several doses again. Let's be optimistic about the vaccine, the entire situation, and the new year maybe.
Although, just because Uday wasn’t bothered doesn’t mean the incident didn’t frighten anyone else. So, the Ministry of Health released a statement following up the mistake:
This is one case. It is being investigated by the Ministry of Health and we will be sending out another letter tightening up the procedure for the entire health system.
The statement continued to say thatvaccines will still be carried out without disruption:
The Ministry of Health is continuing to conduct the vaccination process and will continue to update procedures as such exceptional incidents occur in order to improve the operation
Well, at least we know this is a mistake that nurse will only make once!
