Brandon mom wants changes after vaccine mix-up

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This article was published 03/12/2021 (1512 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Brandon woman is calling for procedures to be changed at the province’s vaccination supersites after she and her three-year-old daughter were given COVID-19 vaccine doses instead of flu shots last week at the Keystone Centre.

As first reported by the CBC, Jenna Bardarson and her daughter Dali went to the vaccination supersite on Nov. 24 for an appointment but were accidentally given adult doses of COVID-19 vaccine instead of influenza vaccine.

In the days that followed, both of them suffered from side effects like headaches, sore arms and in Dali’s case, vomiting and loss of appetite.

Since Jenna is not eligible for a COVID-19 booster shot until January and Dali is below the approved age for kids to receive doses of COVID vaccines, she is now hoping steps are taken so that this doesn’t happen again.

Bardarson was immediately notified by the immunizer and a supervisor about the mistake after it happened but said that she was told that it was likely that she and Dali would likely not have to worry about any side effects.

She says the only person who warned her of what could happen was the person overseeing the waiting area where people who have just been immunized are asked to wait for 15 minutes before leaving in case of the sudden onset of side effects.

After the event, Bardarson told the Sun that she made repeated calls and even visited the supersite again to get information on why and how the wrong vaccines were administered. However, she did not hear back from anyone until Thursday, after CBC had been told that someone from Prairie Mountain Health had reached out to discuss the result of the investigation into the incident.

She also said that whereas CBC was told that the immunizer in question had not received any further corrective action after the investigation, she was told that no details about what was happening with the immunizer could be shared with her.

“Very frustrated,” Bardarson wrote in a Facebook conversation with the Sun about how she feels about no further action being taken. “This person made not just one mistake but two. I would hope if anything she would be supervised or needle privileges taken (away) for a period of time for harm reduction — this cannot and should not happen again.”

To prevent a similar occurrence, Bardarson believes that extra measures should be put in place, especially because of the stress being placed on health-care workers right now because of the pandemic.

In situations like the Keystone Centre supersite where multiple types of vaccine are being administered, she believes there should be separate stations for each type of vaccine to prevent mix-ups. She’d also like to see immunizers take refresher courses if they make this kind of mistake going forward.

Despite that, Bardarson says what happened to her and her daughter hasn’t affected her trust in vaccines and that they will continue to get them, though she will double-check to make sure the right vaccines are being administered going forward.

“However it has brought me more doubts in how our healthcare system is run, it shouldn’t be this hard for a person to report negligence or concerns/or ask for help — there should be more accountability on the health region/provinces part than there has been,” she wrote. “Our healthcare workers are tired and it never hurts to doublecheck with their healthcare provider that they are getting the right dose/vaccine/medication because though these situations may be rare, they can still happen.”

Thankfully, both Jenna and Dali are feeling better now and the side effects have passed.

In an email to the Sun, a spokesperson for Manitoba Health and Seniors Care acknowledged the incident and confirmed the details noted in other reporting on the subject.

“Medication errors, including things such as issuing the wrong dose or the wrong medication are rare, but they do occur. In this case the patient (parent) was informed of the error and provided information about the risks, which in this case was low,” the spokesperson wrote.

The Sun also reached out to Prairie Mountain Health for comment, but a spokesperson directed requests on the matter to Manitoba Health. The Manitoba Nurses Union was also asked for comment but a spokesperson said they were unable to do so on Friday.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @ColinSlark