Epoch HealthFDA Issues Alert on Wrong COVID Vaccine Doses for Children

Correct Dosage Crucial in Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine for Children

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an alert to healthcare providers about the correct dosage of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for children aged six months to 11 years. This comes amid reports of double doses being administered to children, highlighting the importance of precise dosage in vaccine administration.

Key Points

• The FDA has advised healthcare providers to ensure the correct volume of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is withdrawn from the vial for children aged six months to 11 years.
• The correct dose is 0.25 mL, and any excess volume should be discarded.
• There have been incidents of dosage errors, including a 5-year-old girl in North Carolina who received a double dose.
• Dosage errors have been common throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, with the World Health Organization (WHO) also acknowledging an increasing number of immunization errors in children.
• In late 2021, more than a dozen children in Antioch, California, received incorrect COVID-19 vaccine dosages, some receiving double the amount they were supposed to.
• In Loudon County, Virginia, 110 children aged 5 to 11 were given the wrong dose of a COVID-19 vaccine at a pharmacy in November 2021.

According to a study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, nearly one in five parents reported their child had received a medication error by a healthcare provider.

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