Covid-19 | Macau records first case of inoculation with wrong vaccine

A local resident has been incorrectly inoculated with a BioNTech mRNA Covid-19 vaccine while attempting to take a second dose of the Sinopharm vaccine, the Health Bureau (SSM) announced.
According to the records, this person was inoculated previously with a Sinopharm inactivated virus vaccine, and should have received a second dose of the same.
According to the bureau, the case occurred at the Ocean Gardens Health Centre last Friday, with the mistake only detected after the inoculation had taken place.
The SSM added that the resident had not exhibited any discomfort or health conditions after the second jab. They added that information available worldwide on this kind of situation has not demonstrated any notable increases in the occurrence of side effects. Instead, the SSM noted that the only downside of inoculation with a different vaccine type could be related to a reduction in the efficacy of the vaccine.
A preliminary investigation into the case revealed that the booking system detected that the resident had previously received the first dose of Sinopharm’s vaccine. However, “the resident, by his initiative, changed the information from the first dose to the mRNA vaccine, prompting the system to change the second dose to be of the mRNA vaccine,” the SSM said.
Nevertheless, the bureau ultimately blamed the SSM staff member who inoculated the resident with the second vaccine. The SSM stated that “the bureau regrets that the health care professional, by negligence, failed to carefully verify the resident’s vaccination registration,” adding that due to such a fact, the SSM has launched an internal investigation into the incident “aiming to improve the existing procedures.”
Meanwhile, the SSM also took immediate measures to amend the vaccination registration system to prevent the possibility of users changing their vaccination record, in order to avoid similar incidents in the future.