A healthcare worker at a Maccabi clinic in central Israel was accidentally vaccinated on Monday with an entire undiluted vial of the Prizer vaccine, which contains five or six doses, Channel 12 News reported on Tuesday morning.

Following the incident, the man was hospitalized for observation as a precaution and was released on Tuesday morning after showing no negative effects.

Health Ministry procedures call for the process of diluting the vaccine and drawing the dose into a syringe for an injection to be performed at the same time by the same nurse. Preparing vaccine doses ahead of time is against regulations and apparently was the cause of the incident.

The Health Ministry confirmed the report and said the incident is under investigation, adding that the error occurred due to the separation of the dilution stage from the injection stage.

Maccabi stated that the incident was an isolated one and did not affect others vaccinated in the clinic on Monday.

Almost 30,000 Israelis have already been vaccinated as of Tuesday morning, two days after Israel’s vaccination drive began on Sunday, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein announced.

Edelstein said that vaccinations will be carried out in senior care homes on Tuesday and encourage the public to be vaccinated.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)