Outrageous! 16 junior high school students in Taitung were given the wrong Moderna vaccine for influenza

This afternoon, I went to a junior high school in Southeast Taipei to perform on-campus influenza vaccination at a local health center. However, 16 students accidentally received the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and were accidentally vaccinated. The health center immediately stopped the vaccination operation upon discovery and used the correct influenza vaccine to complete subsequent vaccinations. The county health bureau issued a statement saying that "vaccination is at one's own expense," which is understood to mean that "vaccination that would otherwise have to be paid is earned." The health bureau said that its original intention was to emphasize that "it was originally a vaccine that could be administered at one's own expense." It also admitted that it had made an oversight without explaining it clearly. It is re-issuing a statement and will be responsible to the end.

At about 1 p.m. this afternoon, the 8th and 9th grade students at Nanhui Middle School were supposed to receive the publicly funded flu vaccine. According to their parents, it was not until about 3 p.m. that they received a call from the health center stating that the vaccine was "wrong" and they received the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. The student said, "No wonder it hurts so much this time!". The parents were furious and did not give the vaccine without confirmation. It was only after half of the students had been vaccinated that they discovered that some of them had received the COVID-19 vaccine repeatedly. Although no symptoms have been reported yet, they are still worried about future sequelae. "In rural areas, only health clinics can be trusted. Who do you want the public to trust now?"

The health center issued a brief statement afterwards, stating that the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine (mNEXSPIKE single-dose mRNA1283) that was mistakenly vaccinated this time is suitable for students aged 12 years and above. Adverse reactions such as pain, redness, swelling, fever, and fatigue at the injection site may occur after vaccination, and most of them are mild and short-lived.

However, the statement also mentions, "However, the COVID-19 vaccine is not included in the publicly funded COVID-19 vaccinations of the CDC this year (only flu vaccines are available to junior high school students at public expense)." This is an oversight and the statement raised questions from the public. Are they telling everyone, "You can earn money by taking the vaccine?" The health bureau urgently emphasized that it admitted the oversight, just to let the public know that this was originally a "left-wing and right-wing new" health policy. "Originally, injections could be administered at the same time, but there was a charge." However, they did not explain clearly and caused misunderstanding again.

The current "Left-Liu Youxin" method is to get the flu vaccine in the left hand and the COVID-19 vaccine in the right hand. However, the age of junior high school students who are not currently vaccinated with two vaccines at public expense. Only the influenza vaccine is paid for by the public. Those in this age group who want to receive two vaccines at the same time need to pay for it at their own expense. The Health Bureau wants to say that "it can be administered this way, but it has to be paid." However, the explanation is misleading.

The Health Bureau stated that it has immediately contacted the parents of the students one by one and sent personnel to the school to proactively explain the abnormal vaccination event and health education to school personnel and students. If students have symptoms of physical discomfort such as fever that lasts for more than 48 hours, difficulty breathing, dizziness, rapid heartbeat, rash all over the body, etc., please seek medical treatment as soon as possible and inform the doctor of the time and type of vaccination to facilitate diagnosis, or they can go to the health center to provide free medical treatment.

In addition, the health unit will hold a briefing on campus on the 13th, and will follow up on the CDC's "Handling Procedures for Abnormal Vaccination and Damage Cases of Publicly Funded Vaccines" to complete relevant reviews, follow-up and disposal, and conduct health care and follow-up for students with abnormal vaccinations for at least 2 weeks; if there are suspected adverse events, they will fully assist in medical treatment.

The Health Bureau stated that after receiving the notification, it immediately consulted the CDC and instructed the health center to investigate and review the cause of the case, strengthen vaccine separation, labeling, and three-reading and five-checking mechanisms at the vaccination site to prevent similar incidents from happening again, and handle follow-up matters in accordance with regulations.