A Walgreens store in North Carolina mistakenly gave people shots of saline instead of a COVID-19 vaccine, the company said.
The pharmacy chain insisted that a “limited number” of people were impacted by the mix-up at a location in Monroe, the Charlotte Observer reported.
Those who received saline instead of the COVID-19 shot were contacted to reschedule their appointments as soon as possible, the company assured.
“These patients will later receive their second dose within the appropriate time frame,” the statement said.
Lisa Strawn said she and her husband were among the people who received the wrong injection on March 20 at the store, news station WRAL reported.
“They called us and told us we needed to come back the next day, that there had been a mix-up with our shot,” she told the outlet.
Strawn said she was told that the pharmacist had forgotten to mix the Pfizer vaccine and they had only received saline.
The employee told her that it was only when the store had too much vaccine left over at the end of the day that they realized the mistake.
“I just thought it was important that people know, just be careful,” Strawn told WRAL. “You know, check behind them.”
Walgreens said it’s investigating the incident and have “taken immediate steps to review our procedures with the location to prevent this from occurring again.”