Earlier today The Ministry of Health said that they are investigating the death of a 103-year-old woman who was given a fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by mistake.
The woman who resides at ECON Healthcare (Nursing Home located in Chai Chee) was given an additional dose of COVID-19 vaccine by a mobile vaccination team from PanCare Medical Clinic. when she had already received three. The incident happened on 13 December 2021.
She was admitted to Changi General Hospital 3 days later for pneumonia, hyponatremia, and later suffered a stroke and died on 10 January 2022.
The autopsy report revealed that the main cause of her death was pneumonia, with other contributing factors being cerebral infarction (or stroke) and coronary artery disease, which are natural disease processes common in seniors. The Coroner has not determined whether these causes of death were linked to the vaccination.Â
MOH investigations
MOH said that they are taking a serious view on this incident and investigations are expected to be completed in Feb 2022.
MOH said that preliminary findings were that the vaccine was erroneously administered due to possible irregularities in vaccination procedures and poor communication between the nursing home and the medical service provider handling the vaccination. This is the first case of mistaken identity leading to erroneous vaccination by a mobile vaccination team in over 152,000 vaccinations to date.Â
Both ECON Healthcare and PanCare Medical Clinic have reviewed their processes to prevent a recurrence.Â