Singer avoids injection with an empty syringe

A bizarre blunder occurred at a Ma On Shan vaccination center, where 31-year-old singer Vivian Koo Ya-mei was injected with an empty syringe. Luckily, the nurse pulled the syringe out before depressing it.

Koo signed up for the Sinovac jab at the Ma On Shan Family Medical Centre, a community vaccination center operated by the Hospital Authority, on Monday.

Sources said the nurse realized the syringe was empty and removed it without injecting air into Koo's arm. She then administered the actual jab for her.

However, Koo suffered dizziness and vomiting afterward and was sent to Prince of Wales Hospital. Results came back normal and she was allowed to go home.

Respiratory specialist Leung Chi-chiu said it would have been safe if air was injected into muscle, but if it entered the blood steam, it could induce a fatal condition called air embolism in which air bubbles could block a vein or artery.

The bubbles could also travel to the brain, heart or lungs causing a heart attack, stroke or respiratory failure.

Leung said the syringe for Covid-19 vaccines are small. "It can hardly go wrong in normal circumstances," he said.

In a separate incident, a pharmacist group said it is only a matter of time for vaccinated Hongkongers to receive a third jab to boost their Covid-19 immunity. But doctors insisted this could be a strategy to boost business.

Society for Hospital Pharmacists president William Chui Chun-ming said overseas studies have found antibodies generated by the Comirnaty vaccine by BioNTech and Fosun Pharma can only remain in the body for six to nine months.

He said a third jab is necessary amid the emergence of highly contagious mutant strains.

Chui added that people who have received organ transplants usually need to take immunosuppressive drugs which will impact the effects of the vaccines.

"Even if these people have completed both doses, they may only generate a very small amount of antibodies," he said.

Chui said BioNTech and Pfizer have applied to the United States' Food and Drug Administration for authorization of a booster shot, which is being developed to target the Delta variant rapidly spreading around the world.

He expects that the new generation of vaccines will, at the earliest, be available early next year.

When asked if mixing vaccines from different brands is feasible, Chui said those who have completed both doses of the CoronaVac vaccine by Sinovac can take a BioNTech booster jab.

Chui again called for SAR authorities to consider purchasing the Johnson and Johnson vaccine as it only comes in one dose and can ease the burden on medical resources.

However, government adviser and respiratory expert David Hui Shu-cheong from Chinese University said it is too early to say if a third dose is necessary for everybody.

"At the moment, there's no urgent need for everybody to get a third shot," he said. Hui added that current studies show antibodies can last six to nine months because the studies began six to nine months ago, and it does not mean antibodies disappear after that.

Hui said his CUHK research team is also conducting a study on Hongkongers' antibodies following inoculation and interim figures have found that those taking Sinovac have less antibodies than BioNTech recipients.

Undersecretary for Food and Health Chui Tak-yi said the scientific committees under the Centre for Health Protection will study the need for booster shots.

Meanwhile, Thailand has said it will use British-made AstraZeneca's vaccine as a second dose for those who received Sinovac as their first shot.

jane.cheung@singtaonewscorp.com