August 05, 2021

Bosnia: they came in for a Covid vax and got the flu shot instead

topic:	Health and Sanitation
located:	Bosnia and Herzegovina
editor:	Katarina Panić

Last Saturday, people in the Bosnian town of Doboj came to a health centre to get vaccinated against Covid-19. Their option was a Chinese vaccination that was available that day. However, it turned out that eight of these people received the flu shot instead of Sinopharm. 

Not only did people not get what they came for, but it is unknown whether the influenza vaccines administered were expired. They usually have a shelf life of about a year and are known to be applied during the fall.

"People who received the Vaxigrip are under permanent supervision of their doctors. So far, they have no side effects nor any other effects. They can get the covid-19 vaccine after 15 days or a month, and I am happy they are still interested in it, regardless of this lapse," Branislav Zeljković, the head of the Republika Srpska Public Health Institute, said at a press conference Tuesday.

The police and prosecutor’s office are investigating the case, and the healthcare worker who applied the wrong doses has been suspended.

"Unfortunately, there is room for such mistakes to happen, but that space must be minimised as much as possible," Zeljković added.

The medical staff at the Doboj health centre are largely overworked, underpaid, their right to days-off and vacations has been heavily reduced and there is no budget for new recruitments, although those are desperately needed.

"The case had upset the public, but I do understand the colleague that made a mistake. The whole health care system is in an ill condition, and this pandemic lasts too long,” a nurse at the Doboj health centre told FairPlanet under the condition of anonymity. “When we complain, they tell us it is our job, and we chose it. We all need more support. We wonder how come the mistakes don't happen even more frequently.”

However, the nervousness among decision-makers is rising. Unlike a few months ago, there are more than enough vaccines these days, but people still hesitate to get them , and as time goes by their expiration dates approach. The doses have to be administered; otherwise, the antibodies will be thrown away. 

"We rent a sports hall to organise a vaccination point. We organise several teams, each consisting of three people,” the manager of a health centre in my hometown told me. “We introduce working hours in two shifts from morning to evening and about 30 people show up to be inoculated for the whole day. It is a waste of resources.”

Image: Steven Cornfield. 

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