Baby given COVID-19 vaccine by mistake: No permission granted for investigation

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

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No permission for investigation has been granted in the incident where a 30-day-old baby was reportedly administered Pfizer-BioNTech's novel coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine instead of an Hepatitis B vaccine at a family medicine center in İzmir province last year.

As reported by Özer Akdemir from Evrensel Ege Sayfaları, after the family filed a criminal complaint in late September, an inquiry was carried out. It was then concluded that "there is no need to investigate" the nurse who administered the vaccine and the other responsible officials.

In the face of this decision of the Bornova Sub-Governor's Office, the family has lodged an appeal to the Regional Administrative Court.

Dilek Güzel, the lawyer of the family, has said that a 30-day-old baby was given a vial (6 doses) of Pfizer-BioNTech (COVID-19 vaccine) instead of an Hepatitis B vaccine and criticized the decision.

Noting that "the physical integrity of the baby was violated", the lawyer has recalled that they wanted the ones who were responsible for it to be penalized for "committing neglect of duty and failing to ensure the necessary and adequate organization, inspection and control."

According to the decision, the baby was given the the vaccine without the QR code being scanned and if it had been done, the system would have given a warning that would prevent the incident. The act was reportedly not ill-intentioned or deliberate and the incident was not hidden.

Lawyer Güzel has also noted that the decision of no permission has listed a series of reasons such as the hard efforts to take the necessary measures and indicated that no side effects were seen in the baby.

Güzel has said that a disciplinary action has been taken against the nurse who administered the vaccine and s/he has been prevented from giving vaccines as an administrative precautionary measure.

"A decision of no permission has been given for the investigation by indicating that the doctor under whom the nurse works was on annual leave and the physician responsible for vaccination was not informed about the incident on the day of the incident," the lawyer has noted.

The family has lodged an appeal against this decision by applying to the İzmir Regional Administrative Court.

What happened?

Attending a TV program, Prof. Zafer Kurugöl from the Faculty of Medicine of Ege University said that 6-month-old or 1-month-old babies are administered a COVID-19 vaccine by mistake, instead of an Hepatitis vaccine. While Prof. Kurugöl argued that the vaccine causes no side effects on the child, the Federation of Family Physicians has dismissed his claims.

Kurugöl said that the incident happened at a center outside İzmir, his remarks were misunderstood and he talked about a single incident.

While the Ministry of Health launched an investigation against Prof. Zafer Kurugöl over his remarks, a family in İzmir filed a criminal complaint about the incident amid the allegations that a 1-month-old baby was administered Pfizer-BioNTech's novel coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine instead of an Hepatitis B vaccine at a family medicine center in İzmir.

Shortly after the family's lawyer released a statement, the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor's Office announced that it launched an ex officio investigation over the incident on charge of "reckless injury". (AÖ/SD)