York Region vaccine clinic accidentally administered undiluted doses, equivalent to 6

A vaccine clinic in York Region accidentally allocated undiluted COVID-19 vaccine doses to patients in what the municipality calls an administration error.

A spokesperson for York Region confirms with CityNews that the incident happened on Jan. 8 at Schomberg Medical Centre in King Township.

“Due to an administration error, individuals received undiluted doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine,” said Patrick Casey, York Region’s Director Corporate Communications. “We have followed up with the Schomberg Medical Centre regarding the issue.”

Before being administered, a fact sheet shows that each vial must be thawed and injected with nonpyrogenic distilled water after adding 1.8 mL of 0.9 per cent sodium chloride. Each vial contains six 0.3 mL doses. For individuals 12 and older, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends the following:

Diluent: 1.8 mL of 0.9 per cent sodium chloride (normal saline, preservative-free). Use a new vial every time.

Multidose vial: 6 doses per vial

Dosage: 0.3 mL

Each Pfizer COVID-19 vial contains roughly 0.25 mL with the addition of saline, equivalent to six doses. In this case, the Pfizer vaccine doses were undiluted.

“We know this type of incident can cause anxiety for many people; rest assured COVID-19 vaccines are safe, and administration errors are extremely rare,” Casey said. “For further information, please contact the Schomberg Medical Centre directly.”

It’s unclear if anyone who received the accidental dosages experienced any side effects.

In other instances of inadvertent vaccine dosages being administered globally, the CDC says reports showed that people who received excessive doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine mostly had pain or swelling at the injection site but no severe adverse reactions.