State responds to excess vaccination
The Queensland government is boosting safety measures in state-run aged care facilities after two patients received multiple COVID-19 vaccine doses.
The error saw the two Queensland aged care residents injected with around four times the recommended dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Reports say the contracted doctor had not completed the required training to properly administer the vaccine.
Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath says the state has now issued a "show cause" notice to Health Care Australia, the company contracted by the Federal government for the rollout.
The state has also put additional observers into all state-run aged care facilities.
“We are ourselves putting an extra layer of oversight now… we won't hesitate to step in and take action if we believe that there is behaviour that doesn't meet our expectations. We need the public to have confidence, we want the public to have confidence and we want this to be done safely,” she said.
While the mistake has aroused concern among many, including Australia’s vaccine-sceptics, one expert says such human errors are bound to happen.
“The key now is what action we’re going to take to minimise the risk of this happening again,” Associate Professor Nigel Crawford of Murdoch Children’s Research Institute wrote in a piece for The Conversation.