GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — One Guilford County 16-year-old is sharing his story, in hopes that other teens looking to get vaccinated won't accidentally get a dose that isn't meant for them.
At this point, we all know the three approved vaccines well: Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson. Right now, Pfizer is the only one approved for people 16 and up. The other two are only approved for people 18 and older.
Last week, Daniel Espinosa signed up to get his shot right away - excited to get his first dose.
"When I went to sign up, there was a big disclaimer saying people under 18 - the only one that's authorized right now by the federal government is the Pfizer vaccine," he said.
Despite that warning, he was given the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. He didn't realize the mistake right away - not until he took a closer look at his vaccine record card after he got his shot.
"It says first COVID dose with a serial number, I believe, and then the date because I got it on April 8th," he said, holding up his vaccine card, "And they didn't schedule me for a second shot so that was another indicator - but as you can see it says J&J."
He knew he was eligible only for the Pfizer vaccine, and said he stated his birthdate a couple of times. Immediately after he noticed the error, he reported it to the clinic. Medical staff there told him not to worry.
"They reassured me and definitely put aside my fears, but I was still a little worried because the fact is - that Johnson and Johnson is not approved currently for people under 18," he said Monday.
WFMY News 2 reached out to Dr. John Sanders, Chief of Infectious Diseases with Wake Forest Baptist Health for insight. To be clear, they did not host this vaccination event.
"It's not common but we have certainly heard of [these mistakes] happening," he said, "It has happened a few times. It is not a big deal."
Dr. Sanders explained, it's more of a regulatory issue than a clinical or medical one.
"When Pfizer developed their clinical trial to give data to the FDA, they enrolled people 16 it up. They were able to get approval for that age group. Moderna and Johnson and Johnson, for whatever reason internally, just picked 18 and up instead of 16 and up. So they have emergency use authorization from a regulatory standpoint for that age bracket. But - there is nothing to suggest that there is going to be a critical difference.
"Should they have given this vaccine to a 16-year-old? No, I think that was a mistake. But it was a relatively harmless accident. Clinically, am I worried at all? Not a bit."
He said that's because research consistently shows the vaccines are safe, even if they haven't gotten the greenlight from the FDA for younger age groups yet.
"I am not suggesting that you grab your 16-year-old and rush them to the clinic and say 'I want this unapproved vaccine.' There is a regulatory requirement and we should only be giving Pfizer right now to people 16 and 17 years old. But the others are just as safe and are going to work just as well in that population," he said.
Espinosa told WFMY News 2 he's grateful to be vaccinated and feels fine. However, he hopes more care will be taken when administering the vaccines to 16 and 17-year-olds.
"I do get that accidents happen," he said, "I guess what I'm hoping to come from this is that, just more protocols will be in place - because there was no ID check...there was no parent required... I just hope that this will not happen to someone else."
He didn't want to name the clinic because he said it was an honest mistake, and says he now feels reassured from experts that the vaccine is safe.
