When Dasha Hermosilla took her 7-year-old daughter Gryffin Fahle last Wednesday to get a COVID-19 vaccine at Ted Pharmacy in Loudoun County, Va., she knew something wasn’t right.
Recently approved Pfizer BioNTech vaccines for children ages 5 to 11 are supposed to have orange caps. However, the shot her daughter got had a purple one – indicating it was for the version of the vaccine approved for people age 12 and older.
Hemosilla’s pharmacist said it was fine, she told News4.
Then, an online search made her worried.
“Nothing says that you can change a purple to an orange,” Hermosilla said. “I had this pit in my stomach that, like, what did they just do to my daughter?”
It turns out she was right. The pharmacy, located in a building on Stone Carver Drive in Aldie, Va., admitted to giving children the dose for older children and adults and the Virginia Department of Health said about 112 children in Loudoun County are affected.
After News4 interviewed Hermosilla, the Loudoun County Health Department released an alert about the pharmacy's error and its removal from federal vaccination programs.
“The pharmacy who administered the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination to your child last week has been removed from both state and federal COVID-19 vaccination programs,” Loudoun County Department of Health Director David Goodfriend said in the letter.
According to Fox News, the county has not received any other reports of pharmacies or providers administering COVID-19 vaccines formulated for 12 years and older to children 5-11 years old. Loudoun County has also made headlines recently for school board battles.
“On Nov. 5, state and federal authorities ordered the pharmacy to discontinue administering the vaccine, and [the Virginia Department of Health] subsequently collected all COVID-19 vaccines at the pharmacy,” said the Virginia Department of Health in a statement to Fox about the incident. “Officials instructed the pharmacy to notify parents about next steps, including the recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding whether patients should restart the vaccine series or receive a correct second dose. VDH is also working to contact parents and ensure they understand the guidance on next steps.”
Child-safe doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine contain 10 milligrams, around one third the amount in the adult doses, according to the New York Times.
Additional communication was sent to Virginia pharmacy partners on Nov. 5, said the state health department.
News4 said that state health officials that Ted Pharmacy is under investigation. The Virginia Board of Pharmacy did not confirm an investigation was underway.
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