A vaccine clinic in Virginia mistakenly distributed what they believed were injections of COVID-19 to patients – but in reality they were empty syringes.
The accident occurred when a worker incorrectly assumed that another colleague had filled the syringes before Monday’s appointments at a Kroger clinic in Midlothian, the WRIC news station reported.
“Less than 10” people received an empty injection instead of the vaccine, a Kroger spokesman told the channel.
The supermarket chain, which has administered more than 830,000 doses across the country, apologized for the error.
“We apologize for this oversight and for the inconvenience caused to these customers,” the company said in a statement.
Each of the patients who received one of the empty doses was notified.
“All affected customers have been contacted and have now received the COVID-19 vaccine,” said Kroger.
Carrie Hawes, who was one of the patients, said she was shocked to receive the call on Tuesday stating that she did not receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
“My initial reaction was shock and surprise, and a little anxiety,” she told the WWBT news station.
She said they were more careful when she went for her second appointment.
“They were very clear with me when we entered,” she said. “They showed us the bottle to make sure it was Johnson & Johnson, they took the vaccine, she showed it to me again.”
Kroger said they retrained clinic workers and contacted local health officials.
“We are working closely with the Virginia Department of Health on this issue,” said the company.