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It is estimated that 4,300 people received less of the Pfizer vaccine than they should, KTVU reported on March 4.
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Very little of the vaccine was given due to a problem with syringes on March 1st, said the media.
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But California health officials said people received a sufficient dose and did not need booster shots.
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Thousands of people who visited a mass vaccination site in Oakland, California, on March 1, received the wrong dosage of the Pfizer vaccine, KTVU reported.
It is estimated that 4,300 people received less than the recommended dose while trying to go to the Oakland Coliseum, two unidentified employees told the media.
The ideal dosage of the vaccine is 0.3 ml of Pfizer, but thousands of people received about 0.2 ml, said KTVU.
Due to a problem with the syringes, very little of the COVID-19 vaccine was administered, the media reported.
The confusion occurred in the morning, but was identified and resolved at 2 pm, state officials confirmed to KTVU.
Both agencies that administer the mass vaccination site – the California Emergency Services Office (Cal OES) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency – were unaware of the problem until KTVU alerted them on March 2.
Cal OES, Federal Emergency Management Agency, United States State Department of Public Health, Health and Human Services (HHS) and Pfizer held emergency meetings on March 2 to discuss the error, said an OES California spokesman the media.
Cal OES did not deny that a lower dose was administered. Instead, a spokesman told KTVU that the amount not given to people was “insignificant”. Therefore, no one was called back for an extra booster, he said.
Cal OES said Pfizer told the agency that there is no reason to worry, unless someone receives less than half a single injection – in which case, they should get another injection immediately.
The public must be “sure that vaccines administered at the Colosseum are being distributed in a manner consistent with best medical and scientific practices and will function as planned,” officials said, according to KRON4
Dr. John Swartzberg, UC Berkeley’s emeritus clinical professor of public health in infectious diseases and vaccinology, told KTVU on Saturday that people “should be fine” as long as they get their second dose of the vaccine.
The California Department of Health did not confirm or deny the allegations provided to KTVU earlier in the week, KTVU reported on Sunday.
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