91-year-old hospitalized after getting 2 COVID vaccines in 4 hours, Ohio woman says

An Ohio city is investigating after a woman says her 91-year-old father was mistakenly given two COVID-19 vaccine shots only four hours apart.

On Monday, Dawn Smith-Theodore posted to Facebook asking for prayers for her father.

Her dad, Victor Smith, had gotten the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine on Jan. 22 and fell after becoming very tired, WAPT reported. Smith was hospitalized following his fall and then transferred to Jamestowne Rehabilitation in Hamilton days later.

He received his second vaccine dose at the Butler County Fairgrounds on Feb. 25 — but was given another vaccine only four hours later at the rehabilitation facility, according to WKRC. Smith was rushed to the hospital.

“He was scheduled to go home on (Feb. 26) from Jamestown Rehab, but someone administered two Moderna Vaccines within four hours of each other,” Smith-Theodore wrote online.

The Moderna vaccine is meant to be administered in two doses given 28 days apart, according to the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Smith had been given a vaccine meant for someone else, Smith-Theodore said.

“A fire department fireman came in and said they had a shot for Victor, and they said, ‘Victor Smith,’ and he said, ‘Yes.’ And they went into my dad’s room,” she told WKRC. “Nobody went with them. They were in there for nine minutes and administered another vaccine of Moderna.”

Smith-Theodore said her father went into respiratory distress.

“I was told Thursday night by the ER that he was dying. He is hanging in there, but it has been a rocky road,” Smith-Theodore wrote Monday.

On Tuesday, she said her dad was “doing a little better.”

The City of Hamilton and Community First Solutions, which owns Jamestowne Rehabilitation said in a joint statement to WKRC that the incident is under investigation.

“An incident occurred where a City of Hamilton resident inadvertently received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on the same day. The individual was a patient of Jamestowne Rehabilitation where all vaccinations are completed by outside parties who are trained and appropriately certified, in this case the City of Hamilton Fire Department,” the statement said.

“Jamestowne staff recognized the patient’s signs of distress and responded immediately. The patient was transported to the hospital and the family was promptly contacted. Both Jamestowne and the City of Hamilton Fire Department have begun investigations into the incident. Our thoughts are with the patient and his family as he continues his recovery.”

Smith-Theodore’s dad is now sitting up and talking, but she said the incident was too close a call.

“I want to see my dad get better. I want to see that this doesn’t happen to anybody else,” she told WAPT.

Hamilton is just north of Cincinnati.

This story was originally published March 4, 2021 at 6:14 AM with the headline "91-year-old hospitalized after getting 2 COVID vaccines in 4 hours, Ohio woman says."