The Maryland State Health Department has announced that they are going to re-vaccinate approximately 70 children in Prince George’s County after they were given expired doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
The department claims that the children, aged 5-11, are not at risk of health issues due to the error.
The doses given to children on November 26 at the Wayne K. Curry Sports and Learning Center in Landover, were expired by two days.
George L. Askew, deputy chief administrative officer for health, human services, and education, told the Washington Post that the Health Department reached out to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to figure out how to handle the situation.
They decided to give the kids another dose.
“It is nice when everyone is in agreement — and everyone was in agreement that receiving the expired vaccine was not going to be detrimental to the children’s health,” he said, according to The Post. “But everyone was also in agreement that it did not give all the protection and that children should get revaccinated.”
Children in this age range began being vaccinated in November at the urging of the CDC.
“We certainly regret this incident,” Askew reportedly said. “And we are really, really sorry for the inconvenience it causes our families.”
