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On Monday, several patients at a CVS pharmacy in Massachusetts received the wrong doses of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine.
A CVS spokesperson told DailyMail.com that the Ipswich Pharmacy – 30 miles from Boston – had given some people a dose of 0.3 milliliter (ml) instead of the correct 0.5 dose. ml recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
This is 40 percent less than the dose they should have received.
It is not known how many patients were affected by the error, but the spokesperson described it as “a limited number”.
“We have contacted all affected patients to apologize for this incident and answer all of their questions,” the spokesperson said.
“We reported it to the appropriate regulatory agencies and took the necessary steps to prevent this from happening again.”
A CVS in Ipswich, Massachusetts (pictured) gave a ‘limited number of patients’ the wrong dose of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine on Monday
Patients received a dose of 0.3 milliliter (mL), 40% less than the correct dose of 0.5 mL recommended by the CDC. Pictured: Three vials of the 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 vaccine is half a dose, or 0.25 ml, they will be fully protected once they receive a second dose. The United States currently vaccinates between 1.6 and 1.7 million people per day
Carol Kennedy Hurley, of Arlington, was one of the patients who were given the incorrect dosage at Ipswich CVS.
She told WCVB that she received a call from an on-site pharmacist and was told she received the recommended 0.3 mL for the Pfizer vaccine rather than Moderna.
“A number of people who entered on Monday did not receive the correct dosage,” she said.
“The pharmacist who worked at CVS on Monday had distributed the Pfizer vaccine before that and he must have inadvertently mixed up.
Doctors say receiving at least half a dose – 0.25 ml – will still provide protection until the time of your scheduled second dose.
“ It’s probably still going to be effective, but we don’t have a lot of data, ” Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, told DailyMail.com in an email.
Hotez added that Dr Moncef Slaoui, head of the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed program, “ even said giving half a dose might even be an acceptable strategy. ”
Recently, a study using data from Moderna’s Phase II trial was published in the journal Vaccine, suggesting that the company’s coronavirus vaccine could still elicit a strong immune response even via half doses.
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 the current two-dose regimen and half that amount were able to elicit “significant” immune responses.
However, health officials do not recommend that patients receive half doses of the vaccine at this time.
As of Thursday, 41 million Americans – 12.5% of the population – received a dose and 16.1 million – 4.9% of the population – are fully immunized
At least 73 million doses have been delivered, with President Joe Biden currently on track to meet the target of 100 million shots in his first 100 days in office
The CVS spokesperson told DailyMail.com that, based on the CDC and clinical advice, patients affected by the error are not recommended to receive a third dose.
Those who received the 0.3 mL dose can receive their second and last injection next month and will still have full protection.
Kennedy Hurley told WCVB she had an appointment for her last scheduled dose in four weeks.
“ I think it’s really important that the people who are doing the vaccinations are really aware that if they don’t do it right people are going to assume they’re okay and they’re not. ‘ ‘she said.
Currently, the United States immunizes an average of 1.6 to 1.7 million Americans per day against COVID-19, an increase from less than one million a month ago.
President Joe Biden is currently on track to meet his target of 100 million shots in his first 100 days in office – but the pace needs to pick up to meet his plan to vaccinate nearly all adults by the time. end of summer.
As of Thursday, 41 million Americans – 12.5% of the population – received a dose and 16.1 million – 4.9% of the population – are fully immunized
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