(Editor’s note: This story was produced by L.A. Taco which first broke the news before it was picked up by other publications)
Pedro suspects he got COVID during the first month of the pandemic, long before testing and vaccines were widely available. Although he experienced hardly any physical symptoms, long COVID symptoms like brain fog, insomnia and aphasia got so bad that the 37-year-old thought he might be disabled for a while.
So in late October of last year, Pedro didn’t waste any time when he became eligible for his third booster. He walked over to Clinica Romero, a nearby low-income health clinic in his neighborhood, and got his shot.
Lower Dose of Covid Vaccine
Ten months later, Pedro received a letter from Clinica Romero that he initially almost threw away. “Dear Valued Patient…Clinica Romero has been made aware that we may have diluted the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines.”
Pedro was stunned.
The booster shot that he received almost a year ago had likely been overly diluted, resulting in a “lower than recommended” dosage of the Pfizer vaccine being administered, the letter indicated.
Not An Honest Mistake
Towards the bottom of the letter, the clinic offered a 1-800 number to patients with questions. “So I call the number, and it’s a dead phone number, and it’s out of service.” The letter also listed vaccine clinic days at both locations where patients could walk in and receive an additional shot but six of the dates already passed by the time Pedro received his notice.“That’s not an honest mistake,” he said.
Pedro is not alone. In total, about 2,100 people were affected by this error at Clinica Romero’s Boyle Heights and Westlake locations, a spokesperson from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (L.A. Public Health) confirmed. It was the only instance in the entire county that the department is aware of as of early August, a spokesperson said.
Read the rest of the story at L.A.Taco.
