Around 30 people who lined up for a Pfizer vaccine jab at Melbourne’s Deepdene Surgery on Sunday may have instead received a dose of simple saline solution, as the clinic admits to an embarrassing bungle this morning.
In a statement, the surgery said a mistake had occurred while staff were preparing the Pfizer vaccines on Sunday.
“Deepdene Surgery have protocols in place to prevent errors. Unfortunately, an error occurred, as empty vaccine vials were used for preparing some of the syringes intended for vaccination,” the statement said.
“This error has not caused any physical harm to these affected people. However we acknowledge this may have caused worry or distress and we apologise for that.”
The surgery said it believes around 30 people may or may not have received the Pfizer vaccine.
“People who did not receive the vaccine would have received an injection of saline (salt solution),” it said.
“The saline did not contain any vaccines or drugs. An injection of saline does not cause any harm.”
It’s understood that members of the public who attended appointments between 1pm and 1.30pm on Sunday may have been affected by the vaccine mix-up.
Surgery staff are working to contact those affected by the bungle.
“We at Deepdene Surgery are very sorry this has occurred and have reviewed our processes to avoid this from happening again,” it said.
The Surgery said it would be reviewing its protocols to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
