118 Toddlers Mistakenly Given Adimmune Flu Shots in Taoyuan 桃118幼兒打錯流感疫苗 啟動追蹤關懷

About 118 chidren below the age of 3 in Taoyuan were mistakenly given the government-funded Adimmune flu vaccines. The Public Health Department said the Taipei Veterans General Hospital Taoyuan Branch in charge of administering the vaccines will be fined NT$250,000.

Publicly funded flu shots are now available all across Taiwan. The news came soon that in Taoyuan, medical personnel from the Taipei Veterans General Hospital Taoyuan Branch in charge of administering the Adimmune flu vaccines at the Taoyuan Arena mistakenly gave 118 toddlers below the age of 3 the vaccine as well. The Adimmune flu vaccines have not been clinically tested for children under the age of 3.

Parent: “I find this a bit ridiculous. We believed them because they are professionals. Yes, so I feel that the hospital should have been more careful about this.”

The mother of one young child who was mistakenly given the vaccine said her one-year-old daughter is fine so far, but she still brought her back to the hospital for a check-up just to make sure. She said she is willing to let it go as long as the hospital takes up the responsibility. The hospital apologized for the mishap and said although the vaccine has not been officially authorized to be administered to toddlers below the age of 3, it is basically safe and effective; there is no need for over-concern or panic.  

Lin Chi-sheng, Dept. Director, Taipei Veterans General Hospital Taoyuan Branch: “We have made calls to each family to get to know their child's condition. We have managed to reach 116 families so far and we are providing each family with personal assistance.”

Su Po-wen, Deputy Director, Taoyuan Dept. of Public Health: “The hospital did not provide thorough training and see that their medical personnel could properly execute all the steps in drug administration. They will be given a penalty fine of NT$250,000 in violation of the Medical Care Act. ”

Both the Taoyuan Department of Public health and the Ministry of Health and Welfare are keeping track of all the families with toddlers that were given the flu vaccine by mistake. Families affected can call 0919-961-996 to reach the health authority in charge of this certain case. One toddler is experiencing a runny nose and another experiencing stomach flu, all of which have no direct relationship with the vaccine. The Taoyuan public health department has set up a task force to further investigate this incident and issue an appropriate penalty. 
 

公費流感疫苗開打，桃園接種出包。衛生局上週六、日在桃園巨蛋設置疫苗隨到隨打站，由台北榮民總醫院桃園分院負責接種。現場提供民眾國光流感疫苗施打，但不適用3歲以下幼兒，有118名幼兒誤打。

家長認為：「就是覺得有點誇張，我們會相信他們，所以其實我們會相信專業。對，所以我就會覺得說，醫院應該是要更仔細一點。」

1歲多的陳小妹妹就是118名幼兒中的一個，媽媽說孩子目前沒什麼症狀，就是帶來醫院檢查看看，只要醫院負起責任，會選擇原諒。院方表示歉意，也說到國光疫苗適用對象還沒涵蓋到3歲以下，但基本上是安全、有效的，請家長不用太過擔憂。

榮民醫院桃園分院主任林吉勝表示：「本院有針對這部分一一的打電話關懷，了解他的狀況，提供專人專業的服務。」

桃園市衛生局副局長蘇柏文指出：「院方未落實人員教育訓練，及未確實執行接種業務前3讀5對有關。今日衛生局依違反《醫療法》第57條 ，裁處25萬元罰鍰。」

針對幼兒誤打國光疫苗，衛生局和院方緊急追蹤，啟動關懷機制，後續家屬有疑義可撥打0919-961-996專線。據了解，後續其中1人流鼻涕、1人腸胃炎，都和疫苗接種沒有直接相關。另外，衛生局也成立調查小組釐清疏失原因，後續依相關法規調查處分。