MANILA, Philippines (Updated 12:30 p.m.) — The Department of Health said Monday improvements in vaccination protocol will be implemented after a prospective vaccine recipient failed to receive a proper dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
In a statement, the DOH called the incident a “breach in the vaccination protocol.”
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A video circulating on social media showed a vaccine recipient filming the administration of her COVID-19 dose. The health worker was seen in the video inserting the needle into the arm of the recipient but did not push down on the plunger, which meant the contents of the syringe were not injected into the arm.
The DOH said the vaccination site was quick to address the mistake and the individual was successfully inoculated after showing the video to the vaccination team.
"The department is investigating this breach in the vaccination protocol in coordination with the local government unit concerned, and reminds all vaccinators to take extra care and attention during inoculation," the DOH said.
It added immediate improvements in the protocol will be made to "ensure we limit the chances of this from happening again."
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III called the incident "very bad", saying also that the health department "cannot tolerate such action."
He made the remarks during the arrival of additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine made by Sinovac Biotech.
Duque said penalties will be imposed on the health worker "right away" but he did not specify what they would be.
Galvez: Video needs to be verified
But for vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., the authenticity of the video must be validated as it could have been manipulated and could have been taken in a different country. However, people in the video were heard speaking in Filipino.
“I think somebody wanted to stir up a controversy against our ongoing national vaccination program. As we have said, if that is true, we will penalize [the person involved],” he said.
Makati Mayor Abby Binay attributed the incident to fatigue and promised it will not happen again.
“It was human error on the part of the nurse that was immediately corrected… We simply ask for understanding from the public. Our frontliners have been working for over a year to fight this pandemic,” Binay said.
She added the incident was being used to discredit the city’s vaccination drive as well as the national government’s program.
The government has so far administered over 10 million doses. Broken down, only 2.5 million have completed the required two doses, while 7.5 million have received their first dose.