Great Western Hospital apology for wrong second Covid jab

The woman, who has not been named, was accidently given Pfizer vaccine after getting a first dose of AstraZeneca

A hospital has apologised after giving a woman different Covid vaccines for her first and second doses.

The woman, who has not been named, was accidently given the Pfizer vaccine at Swindon's Great Western Hospital following a first dose of AstraZeneca.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised against switching between vaccines "as this may affect the duration of protection".

The hospital said it was reviewing its procedures to learn from the incident.

Official guidance from the JCVI, which advises the UK government, currently states that anyone already given the Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-AstraZeneca jab should get the same vaccine for both doses.

But health experts generally agree that mixing and matching the vaccines should be safe.

A UK trial is currently under way investigating whether Covid vaccines can be mixed with different types of jabs used for first and second doses, with findings expected this summer.

Swindon's Great Western Hospital said it was reviewing procedures to "make sure similar incidents are avoided"

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said despite the mix-up, the woman would not need "further doses" and it "does not anticipate any ill effects arising from this".

"We have spoken to the woman and offered our sincere apologies for giving her a different Covid-19 vaccine as her second dose," a spokesperson said.

"We want to reassure people that both of the currently authorised vaccines in this situation are based on the spike protein and so the second dose will work as it should to boost the response to the first dose.

"We are also reviewing the current pathways within our vaccination hub to learn from this incident and make sure similar incidents are avoided in the future."