Aug 11, 2021 - Politics & Policy

Nurse in Germany suspected of swapping COVID vaccine with saline solution

Yacob Reyes

A woman receives her second vaccination with the Biontech/Pfizer vaccine at the Hamburg Vaccination Center — A woman receives her second vaccination with the Biontech/Pfizer vaccine in Hamburg, Germany. Photo: Christian Charisius/picture alliance via Getty Images

Thousands in Germany are set to be revaccinated after it was discovered that a nurse had injected patients with a saline solution in place of a COVID vaccine, the Washington Post reports.

Why it matters: The nurse, who has not been identified, admitted to injecting a few patients with saline but antibody testing showed a much wider group of people may have been impacted. About 8,600 people may have received the salt solution instead of the genuine vaccine, leaving them at risk.

A lawyer representing the nurse told the German news service DPA that she had switched a single vial, per the New York Times.

The big picture: Many of the people who got vaccinated when the suspected switch took place were elderly people at high risk of catching the virus, per Reuters.

The nurse had previously shared vaccine-skeptical posts on social media, per the Post.

What they're saying: "I am totally shocked by this episode," Sven Ambrosy, a local councilor, said on Tuesday, per Reuters.

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Nurse in Germany suspected of swapping COVID vaccine with saline solution

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