Care home residents due to be given the Covid-19 vaccine were accidentally injected with salt water instead.
The 11 elderly patients were given saline solution by "frazzled" NHS nurses at the Millbrae Care Home in Coatbridge, Scotland, which specialises in caring for people with dementia.
A small amount of saline is supposed to be mixed with the pure Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine before it’s injected into patients. In this case that procedure did not take place.
Health officials have issued an apology but admitted that they can’t currently say how many other “vaccination errors” may have occurred.
The Scottish Government confirmed it was aware of the incident – which was not initially made public – and said it did not hold accurate nationwide information on any similar mistakes.
The shocking blunder has been revealed in leaked documents, which also alleges other failings at the home, reports the Daily Record.
The documents detail how “frazzled looking NHS nurses” arrived at Millbrae on December 16 last year to administer correct vaccines after residents were earlier wrongly injected from vials of saline solution.
Opposition politicians believe the Millbrae incident raises serious questions for ministers.
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Scottish Labour’s health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: “This alarming incident raises serious questions about the management of the vaccine programme and care sector.
“It is astonishing that the SNP [Scottish National Party] doesn’t know how common these kinds of incidents are. Their complacency is jaw-dropping.”
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A source at the home said: “The work is relentless because there aren’t enough staff and so you don’t get the time to properly care for the residents.
“Things are the same for NHS staff dealing with the vaccines, they were all clearly frazzled and that is when hard-working people make mistakes.”
Unions claim that the jab blunder reveals a care industry in crisis as a result of under investment across the NHS and private sector.
Millbrae operator Thistle Healthcare confirmed it was aware of the jab blunder at the home.
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