Unintentionally, a man receives one Moderna and one Pfizer COVID vaccine.
Due to a mix-up, this guy received a vaccine combo-pack.
On Tuesday, when receiving his second dose of COVID-19 vaccine, a New Hampshire man got the Pfizer-brand vaccine by mistake, despite the fact that his first dose was from Moderna. Despite the unfortunate mishap, officials insist he will be fine and will not need additional shots for the time being.
“He asked, ‘Are you prepared for a poke?’ I said, ‘Ok,’ and he poked me,” New Hampshire resident Craig Richards told Manchester’s WMUR News 9 about his experience returning to the same place for his second vaccine dose this week. “Immediately after he poked me, he looked down at my passport, and I believe he knew he had just handed me the Pfizer.”
Richards then called attention to the mistake.
“I looked him in the eyes and said, ‘You did not accidentally give me the wrong shot.’ And he took off!” According to Richards. While the man may have panicked upon discovering his error, Richards suggests he may also have done so in reaction to receiving the stink eye.
“I’m not sure if I had a genuine angry face on,” he admitted.
Soon afterwards, the man’s boss approached Richard to discuss the incident and inform him that, despite the mistake, all will be fine.
” ‘You will be perfect. The good news is that you are completely vaccinated,'” Richards reported his supervisor saying. He remained upset and worried, however.
“I’m just thinking, ‘This isn’t happening,’ ” he said of his reaction.
Although medical experts contacted by News 9 refused to comment on the situation due to a lack of data about vaccine brand mixing, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services issued a statement late Wednesday providing additional assurance. Although mixing brands is not desirable or as successful as obtaining two shots from Moderna or Pfizer, the department clarified that it is a safe option in an emergency situation.
“A mixed series is healthy, as (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) advice advises mixing the series if the brand used in the first dose is not available for the second dose,” they said in their statement. “While no clinical trials have been conducted to determine if a mixed series is as successful as a complete series, it will still provide sufficient security to eliminate the need for or recommendation of a third dose.”
According to the CDC guidelines, which can be found on the organization’s website, “the protection and effectiveness of a mixed-product sequence have not been evaluated.” The sequence should be completed with the same substance with both doses.” The CDC adds, “However, if two doses of different mRNA COVID-19 vaccine products are administered in these circumstances (or inadvertently), no additional doses of either product are recommended at this time.”
Richards claims that the experience has left him anxious for additional details, despite his physical well-being.
“With all that’s going on with Johnson and Johnson being pulled, you go home feeling uneasy about it all,” he said. “They made a mistake. There is an issue over there.”
