Indiana Family, Including Children Under 12, Accidentally Given COVID-19 Vaccine by Walgreens Instead of Flu Shot

A family in Indiana says their small children were accidentally given adult doses of the COVID-19 vaccine instead of flu shots.

It’s that time of the year when people start boosting their immune systems the best they can to get ready for the winter season, which is known to bring about more susceptibility to viruses and illness. This was the story of the Price family, who went to get their flu shots at a local Walgreens last week. Alexandra and Joshua Price brought along their two small children, a 4-year-old and a 5-year-old.

When they got back home, they received a call from someone at Walgreens who told them that their family was mistakenly given the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, which has not been approved for children under the age of 12. The worried parents immediately took the children to a pediatric cardiologist, who told them that their daughter was experiencing high blood pressure and their son had a rapid heartbeat.

“You hope it’s just the stress from being at the doctor’s office and unfamiliar response, but at the same time you’re like, ‘What if it’s not?'” Alexandra Price told news outlet WFIE, reports Yahoo! News. She added: “You worry constantly. They’ve been sleeping in our bed in our room since Monday night of last week, so we can keep an eye on them, and it’s just — no one knows what to expect because there’s not a lot out there to help us.”

In a statement, Walgreens responded to the incident saying, “Patient safety is our top priority, and due to privacy laws, we cannot comment on specific patient events. But generally speaking, such instances are rare, and Walgreens takes these matters very seriously. In the event of any error, our first concern is always our patients’ well-being. Our multi-step vaccination procedure includes several safety checks to minimize the chance of human error, and we have reviewed this process with our pharmacy staff in order to prevent such occurrences.”

The children have upcoming doctor’s appointments.