MPF hears employee accused of administering expired and adult vaccine to children in Paraíba

The Federal Public Ministry of Paraíba will hear this week the nursing technician accused of administering vaccines expired in adults in about 40 children in the municipality of Lucena, in Paraíba. The misuse of vaccines occurred in December and January, in a Basic Health Unit (BHU) in the city, before the arrival of the correct infant doses in Brazil.

AT CNN, the State Secretary of Health, Geraldo Medeiro, informed, this Saturday (15), that children between 4 and 9 years old received the vaccine for adults. They had mild adverse events such as fever and pain at the application site. But they are doing well, according to the secretary.

The employee was removed until investigations clarify whether she was wrong or acted intentionally.

According to the secretary, “the nursing technician made a mistake because she applied the vaccine in an extemporaneous period. It was in December and the vaccination of children with the right doses only started this Saturday. Also, the vaccines she used were expired. The employee was removed because she adopted this conduct on her own”, he told the CNN.

As the vaccines were packaged at the correct temperature, according to the local government, the employee may have been confused with counting the beginning of the expiration date. The Public Ministry notified the nursing technician, the municipal coordinator of Sanitary Surveillance and the municipal secretary of Health.

In a note, the city hall of Lucena confirmed the error and said that “an assistant improperly and without authorization applied vaccines” and that “is making medical follow-up and monitoring the children available to families”.

A CNN tried to contact the city’s mayor, Léo Bandeira, and still hasn’t gotten a response. The reporter was also unable to speak with the employee.