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A lawyer for a family in Indiana says they were inadvertently given a COVID-19 vaccine. The family of four, who was not identified, went to Walgreens to get their flu shots on October 4.
Instead of giving them the flu shot, the pharmacist gave them an adult dose of Pfizer's vaccine. The pharmacy contacted them about 90 minutes later to inform them of the mix-up. The family returned to the pharmacy and were given their vaccination cards.
Attorney Daniel Tuley said the family's two children, who are four and five years old, have been sick ever since they received the injections. Currently, none of the coronavirus vaccines have been approved for children younger than 12. However, Pfizer recently asked the FDA to authorize its vaccine for children as young as five.
The family took their children to a pediatric cardiologist, who said they were showing signs of heart issues. Tuley added that the younger child has been suffering from a fever and a persistent cough.
Walgreens issued the following statement when asked about the incident.
"Due to privacy laws, we cannot comment on specific patient events. However, in general, such instances are rare, and Walgreens takes these matters very seriously. In the event of any error, our first concern is always our patients' well-being. Our multi-step vaccination procedure includes several safety checks to minimize the chance of human error, and we have reviewed this process with our pharmacy staff in order to prevent such occurrences."
Tuley said that the family has not filed a lawsuit but did not rule out the possibility.