People “accidentally” given COVID-19 vaccines at JBLM military base

Three people were accidentally given COVID-19 vaccines at the Lewis Main Exchange at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, Washington. The Army is currently investigating how this incident occurred.

Col. Joey Sullinger of I Corps Public Affairs said: “Joint Base Lewis-McChord is aware three people were inadvertently administered the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine instead of another vaccine at the Lewis Main Exchange.”

The Army did not release the identities of the persons involved, although positive corrective action has been taken to prevent such errors from happening again. “Army medical professionals are notifying and ensuring the health and welfare of those affected. This incident is under investigation,” the Army said in a statement.

The information was first shared on Twitter on October 26, but there had been no references or citations regarding the source of the information.

Accidental doses happening across the country

This is not the first time that accidental COVID-19 vaccine doses were given in the United States. In September, a Maryland family found that their 4-year-old ended up getting a COVID-19 shot by mistake, but the vaccine has not yet been approved for children that age. The family was at a Walgreens store to get their flu shot when the mix-up happened.

The same thing happened to a family of four in Indiana, who were mistakenly given a COVID-19 vaccine instead of a flu shot in early October. About 90 minutes after they got what they thought were flu shots, they received a call from their pharmacist saying that mistakes were made and that the entire family had been injected with adult doses of a COVID-19 vaccine instead.

Although the couple was already fully vaccinated, their concern was for their children, Sophia, 5, and Lukas, 4, who showed signs of adverse effects after being given full adult doses.