Care home residents injected with saltwater instead of Covid vaccine

Several residents of care homes in Scotland were injected with saltwater instead of the Covid vaccine.

11 residents of care homes in Scotland were mistakenly injected with saltwater instead of the Covid vaccine.

According to The Sunday Mail, the residents at Millbrae Care Home, in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, were injected with a saline solution that is used to dilute the Pfizer vaccine once removed from freezers.

Trudi Marshall, Health and Social Care North Lanarkshire nurse director, said: “None of the residents who received the vaccine dilutent came to any harm and they were re-vaccinated on the same day.”

“The residents, their relatives and the care home staff were informed and we offered our sincere apologies for the error.”

NHS Lanarkshire has said they are “very sorry” for the mistake.

Ms Marshall added that this happened “at the beginning” of the home’s vaccination programme. According to sources, the residents were given the correct vaccination on December 16.

Ms Marshall said: “Measures were put in place immediately to avoid any similar incidents.”

The operator of Millbrae Care Home, Thistle Healthcare, is aware of the incident.

This mistake is the latest to be revealed from the care home after Scotland’s Care Inspectorate described the service, that is to support older people and those with dementia, as “weak” in their care and support during the pandemic.

In a report that was published in July, the health watchdog discovered instances of “poor hand hygiene” and “inappropriate” use of face masks.

The management team of the care home was asked to look into its control measures against the virus.

Inspectors also noted staff “seemed to be in a hurry” and were “very task-focused,” they also “did not have adequate time to spend with residents to provide person-centred support.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We were notified of the incident at the time and reassured by the health board that no harm was caused and that all residents affected received the appropriate vaccine the same day.”

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