Two children given adult vaccines at Texas Halloween event
Two children in Texas reportedly received adult doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine during a clinic held by a local health department at a Halloween event.
According to NBCDFW in Fort Worth, two boys, ages 6 and 7, were given the shots by mistake as their adult family members were given booster shots.
“I’m very angry, I’ll be honest,” Julian Gonzalez, the father of the 6-year-old boy, told the TV station. “All I can do is for the moment be level-headed and hope he’s OK.”
Gonzalez said that an employee at the clinic told him that the boys would be able to receive the vaccine because they had doses available for children.
“They even had a form prepared that had an option to choose the vaccine for the child,” Gonzalez said. “It just seemed like everything was prepared and ready for that.”
Gonzalez said he was told on Monday that his son was given the wrong dosage. A city official reportedly called his wife and relayed that there had been a mistake
“No matter what, no matter what answer we tried to get — How did this happen? How could this happen? — the only answer we got is, ‘The proper channels have been notified,’” Gonzalez told the news station.
He added that his son had a mild fever, low energy and a headache after getting the adult dosage.
On Tuesday, advisers for the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention signed off on a lower dose of Pfizer's vaccine for emergency use among children ages 5 to 11. The Food and Drug Administration authorized the vaccine for children in that age group late last week.
President Biden at the time hailed the move as a "turning point in our battle against COVID-19."
