An Alzheimer’s patient gets vaccinated twice in a day

A report came up that an Alzheimer’s patient in his 80s was vaccinated twice in a day for Covid-19. According to the city government of Gwangju, a 85-year-old man received a Pfizer jab at a local disease prevention center at around 9:55 a.m. in the morning. After vaccination, he spent 15 minutes checking for any sign of adverse reactions before leaving the center.

But he came back at 10:23 a.m., 28 minutes after the first shot, claiming that he did not receive a jab.

The public health authorities belatedly realized that the man was vaccinated twice. The staff only checked the names on a computer and skipped asking in person whether they had been vaccinated or not before. The plaster from the first shot had been removed, and he was sent back home after having his conditions checked for another 30 minutes.

The health authorities reported this to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency as a case of excessive inoculation and observed him for seven days for potential adverse reactions, but there wasn’t any. On Thursday, the man in question was hospitalized for treatment of pneumonia. “We are looking into whether his hospitalization has anything to do with the excessive vaccination,” said an official from the public health authorities.


Hyeong-Ju Lee peneye09@donga.com