A Walgreens pharmacy, labeled a “ mistake, ” administered injections of saline instead of mixed COVID-19 vaccines, the pharmaceutical company confirmed.
A spokesperson told local media that a “limited number” of people were affected by the bug that occurred at a store in Monroe, North Carolina.
Those affected had been informed, Walgreens said, and offered a vaccine for when they could return.
“We are investigating what happened and took immediate steps to review our procedures with the site to prevent this from happening again,” the company said in a statement.
A woman who reported being one of those affected said her experience took place on March 20, when she and her husband were due to receive the Pfizer vaccine at a Fincher Street store.
The patient, Lisa Strawn, said she had been told a pharmacist forgot to mix the vaccine, so she only received one injection of saline.
The error was discovered when they realized that at the end of the vaccination process, he had many vaccines left over that the day’s report said would have been inoculated.
According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), saline injections can be used as a source of hydration and electrolytes. Patients with conditions such as congestive heart failure, liver or kidney disease should be administered with particular caution.
The FDA has reported the use of saline placebos in clinical trials for the Covid-19 Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines.
Last week, Walgreens announced that it is rolling out COVID-19 vaccines in most of its stores in 49 US states, Washington, DC and Puerto RicoThe company said it had administered more than 11 million injections on April 12.
Walgreens was one of several companies to discontinue use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control Disease control and prevention (CDC) recommends a break in administration.
The agencies announced an investigation into six cases of rare blood clots in patients who had received the vaccine. According to the CDC, all six cases were reported of the 6.8 million doses of the J&J vaccine administered in the United States.