On Monday, several patients at a CVS pharmacy in Massachusetts received the wrong doses of Moderna coronavirus vaccine.
A CVS spokesman told the DailyMail.com that the drug store in Ipswich – 30 miles from Boston – gave people a dose of 0.3 milliliters (mL) instead of the correct dose of 0.5 mL. recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
This is 40% lower than the dose he should have received.
It is unclear how many patients were affected by the error, but the spokesman described it as “a limited number”.
“We have contacted all the affected patients to apologize for this incident and to answer any questions they may have,” the spokesman said.
“We have reported it to the relevant regulatory agencies and taken the necessary steps to prevent this from happening again.”
A CVS in Ipswich, Massachusetts (pictured) gave the wrong dose of Moderna coronavirus vaccine to a “limited number of patients” on Monday
Patients were given a dose of 0.3 milliliters (ml), 40% lower than the correct 0.5 ml dose recommended by the CDC. Pictured: Three bottles of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in Berlin, Germany, February 17
Doctors and the CDC say that as long as a patient’s first blow is half a dose, or 0.25 ml, they will be completely protected after receiving the second dose. The US currently vaccinates between 1.6 and 1.7 million people a day
Carol Kennedy Hurley of Arlington was one of the patients who received the wrong dose at CVS Ipswich.
She told WCVB that she had received a call from a pharmacist at the location and was told that she had been given the recommended 0.3 ml for the Pfizer shot, rather than the Moderna shot.
“A certain amount of people who came in on Monday didn’t get the right dose,” she said.
The pharmacist who worked at CVS on Monday had previously distributed the Pfizer vaccine and, by mistake, must have mixed it.
Doctors say receiving at least half a dose – 0.25 ml – will still provide protection until it’s time for the second scheduled dose.
“It will probably still be effective, but we don’t have much data,” Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, told DailyMail.com. e-mail.
Hotez added that Dr. Moncef Slaoui, head of the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed program, “even said that administering half a dose can be an acceptable strategy.”
Recently, a study using data from the Phase II study from Moderna was published in the journal Vaccine, suggesting that the company’s coronavirus shot may trigger a strong immune response even at half the dose.
The researchers looked at the levels of antibodies that bind to the spike protein – which the virus uses to infect cells – and the levels of neutralizing antibodies that kill the virus.
They found that both the current two-dose and half-dose regimens were able to elicit “significant” immune responses.
However, health officials do not recommend that patients be given half a dose of the vaccine at this time.
As of Thursday, 41 million Americans – 12.5% of the population – have received a single dose and 16.1 million – 4.9% of the population – are fully immunized.
At least 73 million doses have been administered, with President Joe Biden reaching the goal of 100 million photos in his first 100 days in office.
The CVS spokesman told DailyMail.com that, based on the CDC and clinical guidelines, it is not recommended that patients affected by the error receive a third dose.
Those given a dose of 0.3 ml can get the second and last shot next month and will still have complete protection.
Kennedy Hurley told WCVB that he has a schedule for the final dose scheduled in four weeks.
“I think it’s very important that people who get vaccinated really know that if they don’t do it right, people will assume they’re fine and they’re not,” she said.
Currently, the US vaccinates an average of 1.6 to 1.7 million Americans a day against COVID-19, up from one million a month ago.
President Joe Biden is currently on track to meet his goal of 100 million photos in his first 100 days in office – but the pace needs to be accelerated to reach his plan to vaccinate almost all adults by end of summer.
As of Thursday, 41 million Americans – 12.5% of the population – have received a single dose and 16.1 million – 4.9% of the population – are fully immunized.
