Nearly 900 people were injected with expired Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a pop-site run by ATC Vaccination Services at Times Square. The City Hall officials have stated that those who were administered the expired shots would be vaccinated again.
A Health department spokesperson has said that there is no safety risk for the patients who received the expired vaccine shots. "Those patients have received e-mails, phone calls, and are also being sent letters to make sure they are aware of this situation," said the spokesperson.
Patients Can be Re-administered Vaccine on Opposite Arm
According to New York Post, in a communique sent to nearly 900 patients, ATC informed them that they need to get another shot because the firm "cannot guarantee the effectiveness" of the doses they received.
"We are contacting you concerning the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine you received at Times Square – NFL Experience vaccination site on June 5 to June 10, 2021. It was recognized after the vaccine was administered, that it had been in the freezer beyond the approved time frame prior to it being administered," the email sent by David Savitsky to the patients read.
Further, informing the recipients that there will be no adverse effect of the expired vaccine, Savitsky said that ATC has contacted the city Health Department and the New York City Vaccine Command Center and claimed "there should be no adverse health consequences from the vaccine already received."
"Since we cannot guarantee the effectiveness of the vaccine dose you received, we recommend that it be repeated in order to ensure protection. This vaccine dose administered in error will not count toward a completed vaccine series. The "repeated dose" can be received right away "in the opposite arm" that got the defective shot," Savitsky wrote further.
Stating that the patients are eligible to get revaccinated at any spots undertaking Pfizer-bioNTech vaccine, Savitsky said, "This notice can be given to the provider to confirm why you need to receive an extra dose of vaccine."
Patients Informed After Six Days of Goof-Up
The health services provider also made phone calls to the patients to inform them about the goof-up.
Speaking to the outlet, a man, whose two teen daughters were among those administered with the expired vaccine, said that he was angry after being informed about the mix up by the health services provider. "The guy who called wasn't even a doctor. It's a 6-day period of time!!!! Nobody noticed?!?!?," said the man.
The outlet further reported stated that as per Mayor Bill de Blasio's office, following the goof-up, the ATC Healthcare was replaced as the vaccine operator at Times Square.
