Salem teenager still sick after getting six doses of Pfizer COVID vaccine at CVS

CVS confirmed the incident late Friday afternoon

Salem teenager still sick after getting multiple COVID doses in one shot

SALEM, Va. – 17-year-old Ellacia Destura is closely monitoring her symptoms since she says she went to CVS on Chestnut Street in Salem to get her COVID-19 vaccine.

“I don’t feel good. I feel tired. Most of the time, I have a headache,” Ellaica Destura said.

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We first told you her story last week shortly after she says she got all six doses from a vial of Pfizer in one shot.

“There is a lot of people trying to text me or trying to ask how I am and there’s a lot of it and I don’t know, because I don’t feel good. I can say I’m not okay because I’m not really feeling good,” Destura said.

10 News reached out to the corporate office of CVS for comment or confirmation of the incident a dozen times throughout the week. CVS responded late Friday by saying:

“On Tuesday, October 5, at our pharmacy on Chestnut Street in Salem, one patient inadvertently received a 0.3ml dose Pfizer vaccine that was not diluted with saline. The error was disclosed to the patient immediately and emergency services were called to evaluate the patient prior to the patient leaving the store. Out of an abundance of caution, we recommended that the patient make their primary care physician aware and also offered to contact their physician on their behalf. We are reporting this incident to HHS’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) and are taking steps to help prevent this from occurring again.”

While the long-term impacts of this are not known by most doctors, Ellaica is working closely with hers to monitor her health and symptoms.

“It’s been really hard for me, like most of the time to think about it like what will be the side effects of it?” Destura said.

It’s unknown whether she will need another shot.


About the Author:

Annie Schroeder joined the 10 News team as a reporter in June 2020 and is no stranger to Southwest Virginia.