Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 30) — Healthcare workers administering COVID-19 shots have been given a refresher course on vaccination protocols as more reports of vaccinators failing to administer the proper dose come to light.
The Department of Health said vaccination teams nationwide were reoriented to prevent a repeat of an incident in Makati City, where a volunteer nurse injected the needle into the arm of a recipient but forgot to press the syringe to release the vaccine.
“The National COVID-19 Vaccine Operation Cluster recently conducted a re-orientation on the COVID-19 vaccine administration protocols among regional and local vaccination teams in the country,” the DOH said in a statement.
“Moreover, the Department reminded vaccinators to exercise due diligence in the vaccination process — take extra care and attention during the inoculation process,” it also said.
The government agency tagged the incident as an “isolated” case caused by human error. However, several more similar occurrences reportedly happened in vaccination sites in other cities.
Senate President Tito Sotto on Tuesday said there have also been similar complaints in Quezon City, so he asked his son Vice Mayor Gian Sotto to investigate.
He also urged the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to conduct its own probe and impose sanctions on erring health workers.
The DOH said it is aware of the other incidents where vaccine recipients failed to receive a proper dose of COVID-19.
It urged LGUs to rotate the shift of vaccinators every eight hours to minimize fatigue and ensure quality of service.
It also suggested adding an aide to assist and lessen the work of the vaccinator.
