Parents from Indiana say their children were accidentally given adult doses of a COVID-19 vaccine instead of flu shots.
Alexandra and Joshua Price, from Evansville, told WFIE that the family went to a Walgreens store on October 4 so they could all get influenza jabs.
Instead, the Prices say the pharmacist gave doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine not just to the adults but also to their five-year-old daughter, Sophia, and four-year-old son, Lukas.
However, the Pfizer vaccine is only approved for those aged 16 and older and authorized for those aged 12 to 15.
The company has submitted an application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization in kids aged five to 11.
The Prices says that their kids are now suffering side effects including high blood pressure and increased heart rate.
Alexandra and Joshua Price, from Evansville, Indiana, went to a Walgreen store on October 4 with their two children so they could all get flu shots. Pictured: Alexandra (far left) and Joshua (second from right) with their two children
Instead, all four of them – including five-year-old Sophia and four year-old Lukas, were given an adult dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine. Pictured: The Prices with their two kids
Alexandra told WFIE that she didn’t know anything was wrong until they received a call from a Walgreens employee about the mistake.
She and her husband had already fully vaccinated since April 2021, but were not concerned about the extra dose they had received, only for their children.
‘Walgreens called me to say there was a mix up, we did not receive the flu shot,’ she said.
‘And I’m like: “Well what did we get?” And he was like: “We got the COVID-19 shot” and instantly I was like: “Well what does this mean for my kids…?”‘
Daniel Tuley, the attorney who is representing the Price family, told WFIE that Walgreens issued vaccine cards from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the whole family after the incident.
The cards clearly show that the children’s birthdays are in 2016 and 2017.
The Prices say their children have been exhibiting side effects since getting the adult doses, including fever, coughs, hypertension and heart issues
Both children have been suffering ng effects since including fever, coughs, hypertension and a fast heart rate. Pfizer’s vaccine is only approved for those aged 16 and older and authorized for those aged 12 to 15. Pictured, left and right: Joshua and Alexandra with their two children
‘[The cardiologist] said our daughter was having higher blood pressure than she would like,’ Alexandra told WFIE.
‘And Lukas, our son was having tachycardia…’ which is when the heart rate is too fast.
These problems are likely occurring because the children received adult doses.
Children are often the last group to be tested during vaccine clinical trials because they are not merely little adults.
Their bodies and immune systems behave differently, meaning they might have different treatment needs.
What’s more, children may need different doses depending on their height, weight and age.
Last month, Pfizer said it had selected lower doses for COVID-19 vaccine trials in children than are given to teenagers and adults.
Those aged 12 and older receive two 30 microgram (μg) doses of the vaccine.
However, children between ages five and 11 were given 10 μg doses and kids from six months to four years old received three μg doses.
‘Due to privacy laws, we cannot comment on specific patient events,’ Walgreens wrote in a statement to WFIE.
‘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.’
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