At least 112 Virginia children were given wrong doses of COVID-19 vaccines after a local pharmacy tried to make up for not having the new shots for kids, according to local officials.
Ted Pharmacy in Aldie “incorrectly administered” partial doses of adult vaccines to the kids — likely either not fully protecting them or even giving them too much, the Loudoun County Health Department said.
“Because they did not have the children’s formulation they used the adult formulation but only gave a third of the amount to the children,” the health department’s director, David Goodfriend, told the Washington Post.
“Our understanding from Ted Pharmacy is they were trying to do a workaround, which is not authorized,” he said.
“If it doesn’t all go in, or it goes into the body but doesn’t go into the muscle, or you didn’t draw it up exactly to the [correct] line, there’s a chance you might get too little vaccine,” he said.
“There’s also a chance it could have given too much,” he admitted.
Authorities confiscated all of the pharmacy’s remaining coronavirus vaccines and ordered it to contact the families who’d received the shots. They were also sent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to still get their second shot in three weeks as planned, or to even restart the two-shot series after that time.
The alarm was only raised by “a good observant parent” who noticed the shots came from vials with the wrong color cap.
Dasha Hermosilla told Fox 5 that she noticed her 7-year-old daughter getting the vaccine with a purple cap — meant for those age 12 and older — rather than the new younger kids’ one with an orange cap.
“I would have never done this if I knew they were giving the adult reformulated vaccine. Absolutely not,” said Hermosilla.
“I should’ve pushed her to show me the vial of orange which she didn’t have and then I should’ve left.”
The board of pharmacy told Fox 5 that it was unable to reveal if there is an investigation into a possible violation of law or regulation.
Ester Megally, who is listed in corporate filings as an owner of Ted Pharmacy, did not comment when reached by phone Thursday by the Washington Post.
“It’s a working day for us now, and we are a little bit busy. I’m sorry,” she told the paper.