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Hy-Vee has confirmed that staff at one of its Minnesota stores incorrectly diluted a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine that was then administered to 62 patients.
The grocery chain, whose pharmacies under three in Minnesota are authorized to administer the vaccines as part of a federal program, said the incident recently occurred at the Riverfront Hy-Vee pharmacy in Mankato.
It said there was a mistake in giving 62 patients the first dose of the vaccine.
As it explains, “Two pharmacy workers used vaccines mixed with a sterile water injection diluent – which is usually used to dilute injections, rather than the saline solution supplied by Pfizer.”
The chain says it has consulted outside doctors working on the vaccination process and has received “confirmation that there is no cause for medical concern.”
“There are also no patients who have reported side effects,” he added.
“As soon as we became aware of the incident, we began personally calling affected patients,” it continued. “We contacted the manufacturer and are working with each of the patients on the next steps. We have also reported this information to the appropriate regulatory authorities and retrained all of our pharmacy staff at this location.”
“We remain committed to playing an important role in the delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine in our local communities.”