In what Twitter users are already calling “the Arnold Palmer,” a New Hampshire man experienced something of a virus mix-up Tuesday morning, getting a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine dose in place of what was supposed to be a second Moderna dose.
The man, Craig Richards, said he initially got his first dose of Pfizer in March at the same location he was scheduled to get his second this week, but according to WMUR 9, things didn’t go as planned.
“He said, ‘You ready for a poke?’ I said, ‘Sure,’ and he poked me,” Richards said. “As soon as he poked me, he looked down at my card, and I think he realized he just gave me the Pfizer.”
Richards said that after calling the vaccine administrator out on his mistake, the man then “bolted” before a supervisor came over to assure Richards that he was going to be just fine.
“’You’re going to be fine. The good news is, you are fully vaccinated,’ and I’m just like, this isn’t happening,” Richards said.
The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services released a statement Wednesday saying that Richards shouldn’t experience any major difficulties and that the CDC recommends mixing if the brand from the first dose isn’t available for the second dose.
“While there have not been any clinical studies on whether a mixed series is as effective as a complete series, it will still provide enough protection that a third dose is not necessary or recommended,” the department said.
Despite the expectation that Richards should be OK, the double-dosed man isn’t entirely happy about his experience.
“With everything going on with Johnson and Johnson being pulled, you go home and you’re uneasy about the whole thing,” he said. “They screwed up. Something is wrong over there.”
