Ohio Man Hospitalized After Accidentally Getting Two COVID Shots in One Day

A 91-year-old Ohio man was hospitalized after accidentally receiving two COVID-19 shots in a single day.

Butler County resident Victor Smith received his first dose of the Moderna vaccine on January 22, but afterwards he began to feel tired—a known temporary side effect of the shot—and fell, WLWT reported.

Smith, an amputee, was taken to Fort Hamilton Hospital before being transferred to a rehab facility in Hamilton several days later.

Smith was scheduled to receive his second shot on February 25 at the Butler County Fairgrounds, so on the day staff transported him to the vaccination provider.

But while he was at the vaccination provider, there was a mix-up, and Smith ended up receiving two vaccinations just four hours apart. Normally, the first and second doses of the Moderna vaccine are supposed to be given 28 days apart.

His daughter, Dawn Smith Theodore, told WLWT: "They transported him to get his shot, and when he came back, I spoke to him, he was good. Then at 3:45 p.m., I guess a city firefighter came in and said they have a shot for Victor, and the nurse said 'Victor Smith?' and he said 'Yes' so they gave him the room number and sent him to room 202 which is where my dad was."

Theodore said she believed the vaccination center had mistaken him for another Victor. After Smith received his second shot of the day, his body went into shock.

Smith was subsequently taken to Fort Hamilton Hospital in respiratory distress, although he is now recovering from the incident.

"His blood pressure at that point was 86 over 47 and so they could not administer Lasix which would help the fluid around the lungs because his blood pressure was too low. They pretty much told me he was not going to make it," Theodore said.

"I want to see that this doesn't happen to anybody else," she told Local 12.

The City of Hamilton and Community First Solutions—operator of the rehab facility in Hamilton—provided a joint statement to WLWT regarding the incident:

"An incident occurred where a City of Hamilton resident inadvertently received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on the same day. The individual was a patient of Jamestowne Rehabilitation where all vaccinations are completed by outside parties who are trained and appropriately certified, in this case the City of Hamilton Fire Department.

"Jamestowne staff recognized the patient's signs of distress and responded immediately. The patient was transported to the hospital and the family was promptly contacted. Both Jamestowne and the City of Hamilton Fire Department have begun investigations into the incident. Our thoughts are with the patient and his family as he continues his recovery."

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Correction 03/10/2021, 9:50 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to correct the fact that the first and second doses of the Moderna vaccine are supposed to be given 28 days apart, not 21 days apart.