Italian woman given 6 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine

A 23-year-old woman in Italy was given six doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine due to a mistake by the health worker administering the vaccine. The woman, an intern in psychology department of Noa hospital in Tuscany where she was administered the shot, was kept under observation for 24 hours and discharged on Monday.

The woman is in "good health" with no underlying conditions and will be monitored by doctors, CNN quoted hospital spokesperson Daniella Gianelli as saying.

A health worker filled the syringe with entire bottle of vaccine which had six doses and realised her mistake only after administering the shot. "She saw five empty syringes and realised her mistake," the publication quoted Gianelli as saying.

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The hospital has started an internal investigation on the issue, Gianelli said, adding that it "maybe just human error, definitively not on purpose".

A order by the Italian government in April to make COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for health and pharmacy workers made the woman eligible for vaccination before other people of her age group.

Italy has reported 41 lakh COVID-19 cases till Monday since the outbreak of the pandemic, while over 1,23,000 people have lost their lives because of the infection.

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