A Kroger in Virginia accidentally injected customers looking for a COVID-19 vaccine with an empty syringe.
What are the details?
According to a report on CNN on Thursday, at least nine people were recently shot with nothing when they went to receive COVID-19 vaccination at a Kroger in the Richmond area.
A company spokesman said in a statement that a “small number of patients” had recently been fired at a location at Little Clinic in Midlothian, Virginia.
Kroger realized that nine patients received empty syringes when the Virginia Department of Public Health informed them – because the provider “did not realize that the syringes were not pre-filled.”
“All affected customers were contacted and received the COVID-19 vaccine,” the spokesman added. “We thank these customers for their understanding and apologize for their inconvenience.”
The spokesman added: “Kroger is taking steps to ensure that similar incidents do not occur in the future.”
What else?
Carrie Hawes, a client of the clinic who received one of the blank photos, told WWBT-TV that she was alarmed when she found out she had been injected with nothing.
“I immediately spoke to a manager and they explained that a mistake had been made – that we had been given saline. There was no vaccination material,” Hawes said. “My initial reaction was shock and surprise and a little anxiety.”
Hill reported Thursday that after clarification and confirmation, the syringes were empty – they were not filled with any saline solution.
WWBT noted that Hawes was able to return to the clinic to receive the corrected COVID-19 vaccine within two hours of receiving the news.
“They were very clear to me when I came in,” she said. “They showed us the bottle to make sure it was Johnson & Johnson, they took out the vaccine, he showed it to me again.”
“Yes, it is unfortunate that a mistake was made, but there were a small number of people. The situation was remedied,” she added. “I understand that a long year has passed and sometimes there is not much trust in our systems and in the process, but I think everyone has the best intentions, and the end result is to vaccinate as many people as possible, as quickly as we can, so so that we can all be protectors of our community. “