COVID Vaccine Mix-Up: Some People Received Saline Instead Of Vaccine At NC Walgreens

Some people in Monroe, North Carolina, were forced to retake their COVID-19 shots after a Walgreens pharmacy store mix-up.

Walgreens recently learned a "limited" number of people got saline injections instead of the COVID vaccine at one of their stores, company spokesperson Rebekah Pajak told McClatchy News in a statement Sunday, The Charlotte Observer reported. While it's unclear just how many people were mistakenly administered with saline, she said that the company has already contacted all the patients.

The statement further said that some of the people affected were already able to return to the store, where they finally got the right inoculation. They will also receive the second dose at the "appropriate time."

Walgreens did not specify which store was involved in the mix-up and how it happened, but it is already investigating the incident to make sure it won't happen again.

There have been quite a few mix-ups recently amid the massive COVID-19 vaccine roll-out. For instance, a man in West Lebanon, New Hampshire last week mistakenly received two doses of the vaccine but from different brands, the first being the Moderna vaccine and the second being Pfizer.

In another case, an Ohio man received two doses of the Moderna vaccine just a few hours apart on the same day. He was reportedly mistaken for another man who had the same name.

COVID-19 In North Carolina

As of April 16, North Carolina has logged a total of 943,693 COVID-19 cases and over 12,300 deaths, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS). Among its adult population, 33.3% are already fully vaccinated.

In the April 16 press release on the state of COVID-19, the NCDHHS noted a "leveling" of trends after weeks of seeing declines. Nonetheless, even if the numbers are still lower than the January peak after the holidays, the NCDHHS noted "substantial community spread," with the data showing "concerning" increases in cases among young adults.

"We want to see our trends in new cases, hospitalizations and percent positive of tests decline again," NCDHHS Secretary Mandy K. Cohen, M.D., said in the news release. "The best way we can do that is by having as many people get vaccinated as quickly as possible and keep wearing our masks when out in public."