Staff giving Covid-19 vaccines cannot leave mid-task
MOH issues reminder after worker was mistakenly given five doses of vaccine
The Ministry of Health (MOH) has instructed vaccination providers to adhere strictly to medical protocols, to ensure staff administering Covid-19 jabs do not repeat the mistake last month that saw a Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) employee receive the equivalent of five doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Senior Minister of State for Health Janil Puthucheary said that staff administering the vaccine are not allowed to leave their positions before they complete their immediate task.
Should there be a need to step away, there must be proper documentation and reassigning of roles and duties to other staff, said Dr Janil, who is also Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information.
He was replying to questions by Ms Ng Ling Ling (Ang Mo Kio GRC), Mr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang SMC) and Mr Gerald Giam (Aljunied GRC).
They had asked about steps being taken to avoid a repeat of the Jan 14 incident, which happened about a week after Singapore officially kicked off its national vaccination drive.
In the incident during a staff vaccination exercise at SNEC, an employee was given undiluted Covid-19 vaccine.
It happened after the staff member in charge of diluting the vaccine was called away to attend to other matters, and a second staff member mistook the undiluted dose in the vial as ready for administering.
OBSERVATION
The employee who was given the shot was admitted to hospital for observation, but did not suffer any adverse side effects.
Dr Janil assured the House that each staff member in the national vaccination process is assigned a manageable workload.
Staff also have clearly defined roles across specific stations within the vaccination sites - for registration, screening, vaccination and monitoring.
He said vaccination providers have been instructed to adhere strictly to the medical protocols in place.
These protocols are to ensure the safety of vaccinated individuals and provide guidance on the management of the vaccination.
He said the protocols include clear, written instructions on the preparation and administration of the vaccine, the need for a designated and segregated area for the preparation and administration of the vaccines, and clear labelling to differentiate diluted and undiluted vaccine vials.
Dr Janil said all vaccination providers must receive training to familiarise themselves with the guidelines, protocols and operational workflow prior to the commencement of their vaccination operations.
He added that MOH also conducts periodic audits at all vaccination sites to ensure that safety standards are adhered to.
Singapore's vaccination drive is taking place at 14 vaccination centres, 20 polyclinics and 22 Public Health Preparedness Clinics. There will eventually be 40 vaccination centres in the Republic.
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