"Too Big"... Pfizer Vaccine Misadministered to 12-Year-Old Elementary Student Visiting Pediatrics

On the afternoon of the 7th, medical staff are administering the Pfizer vaccine at the COVID-19 vaccination center set up at the Mapo-gu Community Sports Center in Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] A case occurred in a hospital in Jeonju, Jeonbuk, where an elementary school student received the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine due to a medical staff error. It is known that the student had visited the hospital for treatment of an eye stye.

According to a News1 report on the 14th, on the previous day (the 13th), A (12 years old) was vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine at a pediatric and adolescent hospital in Songcheon-dong, Deokjin-gu, Jeonju. Currently, the government only administers vaccines to those aged 18 and over regardless of vaccine type, so minor A should not have received the COVID-19 vaccine.

On that day, A visited the hospital with his mother to treat an eye stye, and when the medical staff called the name of a person waiting for the COVID-19 vaccine, A thought he was being called and entered the injection room. At that time, A’s mother had briefly left to go to the restroom.

The hospital reportedly mistook A, who was larger than his peers, for an adult. They then administered the vaccine without any separate identity verification process.

The hospital later recognized the vaccination error and informed the guardian. A is currently resting at home and is reported to have no serious adverse symptoms.

An official from the Jeonbuk health authorities said, "This is the first case of an elementary school student receiving a COVID-19 vaccine in the Jeonbuk area," and added, "We will thoroughly guide the manual so that vaccinators can be checked two or three times on site."

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