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An eight-year-old boy has “accidentally” received a COVID-19 vaccination at a Dallas, Texas drive-through site.
The father of the child was allegedly unaware the boy wasn’t eligible for the vaccine, saying he was able to register his son and get an appointment.
Speaking with NBC DFW in Dallas, Fire Chief Robert Fite of the Grand Prairie Fire Department defended his crew, who helps operate the mobile site, saying, his staffer “did not realize it was a child under the age of 18.”
“They’re in the car, there’s a code, the paramedic did what that paramedic did for thousands of others for that day and went ahead and gave the vaccination, and did not realize it was a child under the age of 18,” Fite said.
“We had some questions about how a child under 18 could even get registered,” the fire chief continued. “If there was a fail system in place, then we wouldn’t even have to worry because you couldn’t get registered. If they got a QR code, part of our assumption is they understand who should be registered and who should not.”
While a teenager could possibly pass as a person over 18, an eight-year-old boy tricking a fire department employee is not believable.
The father supposedly didn’t realize he made a mistake until talking to his pediatrician, Dr. Marcial Oquendo.
Explaining why he’s concerned the child received the vaccination, Dr. Oquendo said, “We don’t have the data, especially under the age of 12 to say if it works, is it safe, how much should we use, which kid can get it and which kids can’t. It needs to be in a controlled setting of a clinical trial where we are monitoring every possible angle to be able to say if it’s safe and effective to use in kids in this age group.”
Chief Fite says the department will investigate and learn which paramedic administered the shot as well as why the appointment went through on the county website.
It’s not clear which COVID vaccine the adolescent received, but none have been approved for underage usage.