California officials deny reports that thousands were given too-small doses of vaccine
California state officials have denied reports of residents being under vaccinated at one site
(AFP via Getty Images)California health officials have denied reports that thousands of residents received the wrong Covid-19 vaccine dose at one of the state's largest vaccination sites.
In a statement, California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES) pushed back after a report claimed that residents were under dosed when getting vaccinated at the Oakland Coliseum on Monday.
"Neither the state of California nor FEMA are aware of any instance of even a single individual being under vaccinated on the Oakland Coliseum site," the agency said, according to KRON4.
"The state and federal partners providing vaccinations at this site, have been working closely with the California Department of Public Health, US Health and Human Services, Centers of Disease Control and Prevention as well as the vaccine manufacture Pfizer to ensure the highest levels of medical care and quality assurance are adhered to at this site," the statement continued.
The statement comes following a report that thousands of residents who visited the vaccine site this week allegedly received the wrong dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Two medical workers contacted KTVU to report that residents potentially received a small dose of the Pfizer vaccine on Monday before 2pm.
According to the report, the Oakland Coliseum received orange-capped syringes that left about one-third of the vaccine dose stuck at the bottom of the container. This means that individuals allegedly only received 0.2mL of the Pfizer vaccine instead of the recommended 0.3mL dose.
One of the EMT's estimated a maximum of 4,300 people allegedly received the wrong dose. The Oakland Coliseum can vaccinate about 6,000 people per day.
The California OES held a meeting on Tuesday following the report to determine if anyone was under-dosed when they visited the vaccination site.
Spokesperson Brian Ferguson said in an interview following the meeting that the agency does not believe anyone was "formerly under-dosed". The agency spoke with doctors, he added, and the 0.2mL would fall under health guidelines for the vaccine if the situation occurred.
Pfizer reportedly told the agency that there was no reason for any individual who received a vaccine on Monday to be concerned about their immunity.
However, Mr Ferguson told KTVU that "should any inadequacies be identified, or follow-up be needed," then the California OES and FEMA "will expeditiously make corrections" for any individuals involved.
The Oakland Coliseum was opened as a mass vaccination site for California in mid-February in an effort to vaccinate the state's millions of residents as swiftly as possible.
"Rest assured that vaccines administered at the Coliseum are being dispensed in a manner consistent with medical and scientific best practices and will work as designed," state officials said in a statement following reports.
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