German Nurse Accidentally Breaks Vaccine Vial, Fills It with Saline Solution... Facing Dismissal

[Image source=Yonhap News]

A nurse at a vaccination center in Friesland, northern Germany, accidentally broke a vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and then filled it with saline solution. Health authorities decided to identify those who received saline injections instead of the vaccine and administer a revaccination.

According to German news agency DPA and others, Nurse A dropped and broke a vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine around 8 a.m. on the 21st while preparing syringes for COVID-19 vaccination.

To cover up the mistake, Nurse A filled six syringes?the equivalent of one vial of the COVID-19 vaccine?with only saline solution. As a result, six people who were vaccinated that morning received saline injections instead of the vaccine.

Health authorities explained that since saline is used to dilute vaccines, it is fundamentally harmless and poses no health risks to the affected individuals.

Three days later, Nurse A secretly confessed the incident to a colleague nurse, who immediately reported it to superiors. Nurse A admitted all facts during a police investigation. Relevant authorities are proceeding with dismissal procedures against Nurse A.

Sven Ambrosy, the Friesland district administrator, said, "It is very shocking," and added, "To prevent such concealment from happening again, we plan to ensure that no one is left alone with vaccines in the future."

The Friesland vaccination center conducted antibody tests on 200 people who received COVID-19 vaccinations from the morning until 1 p.m. on the 21st. Among them, six people who were found to have received only saline injections are scheduled to be revaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine on the 12th of next month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.