An employee at the Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) had been wrongly administered the equivalent of five doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
According to the SNEC, the incident, which happened on 14 January during a vaccination exercise conducted for its staff members, was due to “human error” resulting from a lapse in communication among the vaccination team at the time.
“The error was discovered within minutes of the vaccination when the staff was resting in a designated area after vaccination,” the public healthcare institution said in a press release.
“Senior doctors were alerted immediately and the staff was assessed and found to be well, with no adverse reaction or side effects.”
The SNEC added that it has been following up closely with the staff member, who remains well.
Although the incident took place earlier in January, news of it only broke out few days ago.
Following this, Simon Lim, who was part of the People’s Voice (PV) team that contested in Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC in GE2020, questioned why was the news kept away from the public at a time where there is a cloud of uncertainty surrounding the vaccines – as vaccinations are progressively being carried out.
“I ask why was the news hidden from the public for close to a month? Does the government really believe that such news could be hidden from the public at all?” Mr Lim wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday (7 Feb).
He then acknowledged that human errors are inevitable, and lauded the prompt medical attention rendered to the affected worker following the mistake.
Mr Lim also acknowledged the decision to cease any further vaccination exercise at SNEC, though he expressed his disappointment given that the news was not made known to the public sooner.
“I further note the immediate halting of further vaccination exercise at SNEC, however, I am disappointed that this news was hidden from the public at a time when we are encouraging members of the public and rally them to go for their C19 jabs,” he wrote.
Mr Lim went on to say that the Government should understand the situation on the ground better, noting that there are “massive hesitations and reservations” among many Singaporeans regarding the COVID-19 vaccines and their potential side effects.
“Transparency commands a high premium,” he asserted.
Mr Lim concluded his post saying, “It is action, action and still action much more than word and people are watching. Only pap suckers believe in lalala.”