Warrington man given wrong Covid vaccine for second dose

Graham Barker, from Cinnamon Brow, was injected with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine during his first appointment at the vaccination centre at Warrington Islamic Centre in Bewsey at the end of February.

He returned to the site, which is run by Imaan Pharmacy, last week for his second dose, which offers greater protection from Covid-19.

But instead of receiving the same Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine dose as before, as per national coronavirus vaccination guidelines, the 49-year-old was jabbed with Pfizer.

Explaining what happened, Graham said: “I went in and gave my details before being told to go to the next desk, where I was asked a number of questions.

“I was told to take a seat, but then was told to go straight in. I asked the vaccinator if there was any difference between the first and second jabs, whether it is the same dose, and she said ‘I don’t know’.

The coronavirus vaccination centre at Warrington Islamic Centre in Bewsey

“She did mention the blood clotting risk, so I knew she was talking about the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

“I just had the jab and was told to wait for 15 minutes, but then I was then told I did not need to wait as it was my second jab.”

As Graham was walking back to his car with his wife, he realised that his vaccination card had the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab noted as his first, but Pfizer as his second.

“I went back in to check, thinking they had made a mistake writing it down, and they looked for the dose bottle in the bin,” he continued.

“They then came back and said they were really sorry as something has gone wrong and they had given me the Pfizer vaccine instead.

“They said that this should not happen, which had me flapping a bit, and they said they would inform my GP and that I could come back in a week and receive an Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

Graham's vaccination card showing different vaccines for his first and second doses

“I thought this was poor, and there was nothing that could stop this from happening again, but I knew this sort of thing does not happen regularly as I sort of saw the colour drain from his face when he said they had given me the wrong one.

“It was a bit of a worry and they said I might get some adverse reactions from having different doses.

“I did have a bit of double vision and numbness in my arm afterwards, but that seems to have improved since, so I am not that concerned.”

After being approached by the Warrington Guardian, a spokesman for the NHS in the north west acknowledged that a mistake had been made and that efforts would be made to make sure a similar occurrence does not happen at the site in the future.

They said: “Local NHS teams should be vaccinating in line with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation guidance.

“This states that an alternative vaccine should only be given in exceptional circumstances.

The coronavirus vaccination centre at Warrington Islamic Centre in Bewsey

“We are supporting the pharmacy to ensure this does not happen again.”

According to the most recent NHS data, more than 188,000 vaccine doses have been administered in Warrington since the town’s vaccination programme began in December.

At present, medical regulators say that different Covid-19 vaccines should not be mixed.

Scientists do not currently believe it is unsafe, but say that further studies are needed before approval for vaccine mixing is granted.

Trials are currently underway to investigate whether having different doses for patients’ first and second jabs could potentially offer greater resistance to coronavirus and new variants should they develop.