MEDICS gave a woman the wrong Covid jab when she went for her second dose at the Great Western Hospital.
She and her husband were stunned when they discovered she had been given the Pfizer vaccine instead of the AstraZeneca version.
“I couldn’t believe it, it’s a huge error and very concerning,” her husband told the Adver.
“They told us this is the first time it’s happened – not just in Swindon but in the UK.”
The shocked woman said she felt OK afterwards but the couple, who want to remain anonymous, were flabbergasted and angry at the error.
They said when she booked her appointment she made it clear she had already been given the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Her husband, who was going for his first jab, said: “The call handler asked her which vaccine she had last time so we assumed that would be written down and passed on to the medics.
“We split up into different rooms and when we came out, she told me what happened.
His wife said that at no point during the appointment did the healthcare staff ask to see the card given to her after her first vaccine although she put it face-up on the table in clear view. .
“Afterwards a doctor came out and said sorry but said we think you will be ok.”
Her husband added: “It does not make sense, there should be a number of fail safes in place to ensure this does not happen. We couldn’t understand how or why this had occurred.”
A Great Western Hospital spokesman said: “We have offered our sincere apologies for giving her a different Covid-19 vaccine as her second dose.
“We have taken advice from the South West Clinical Advice and Response Service, an external service that provides vaccination centres with expert advice and guidance.
“It advised 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.
“For this reason, no further doses are required, and we do not anticipate any ill effects arising from this.
“We are reviewing the current pathways within our vaccination hub to learn from this incident and make sure similar incidents are avoided in the future.”