Two young Texas children mistakenly given adult dose of COVID vaccine

The mistake happened at a community pop-up clinic run by the Garland Health Department.

Two young children were each given an adult dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

The city's website still included forms for kids to sign up, even though the vaccine for young children hasn't yet been approved.

"I'm very angry. I'll be honest. I'm very, very angry. Very upset," said the boys' father, Julian Gonzales.

Gonzalez and several members of his family went to a Halloween event at a church, where the Garland Health Department set up a pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinic.

Several adults planned to get boosters for themselves.

Gonzalez's 6-year-old son, whose face we're not showing, was with them.

"And we're waiting and one of the workers there that was working the vaccine station said, 'By the way we have the vaccine already for the kids available now.' We said, 'Really?' They said, 'Yeah,'" said Gonzalez.

So they agreed.

"They even had a form already prepared that had an option to choose the vaccine for the child. And so, it just seemed like everything was prepared and ready for that," he said.

A 7-year-old neighbor got the shot, too.

But on Tuesday, a Garland city official called Gonzalez's wife and explained it was all a mistake and suggested they contact their doctor.

COVID-19 vaccines have not been approved for children under the age of 12.

"All they kept saying was 'the proper channels have been notified.' No matter what, no matter what answer we tried to get, how did this happen, how could this happen, the only answer we got is 'the proper channels have been notified,'" he said.

Gonzalez says his son has a sore arm, a fever and a headache.

"He had a mild fever this morning. So just been giving him Tylenol to kind of combat it. And then throughout the day he's gotten a headache, and he's just kind of real low energy, just not his usual energetic self that a 6-year-old would normally be," he said.

Doctors say there have been other rare cases of young children getting the adult vaccine, which is 3 times stronger.

Dr. Marcial Oquendo, a pediatrician, said, "The most important part is these kids will likely be okay."

A Garland spokesman said the city apologized to the families involved. He says the city would be happy to address any questions or concerns they still have. He called the accident an "error" and said the form for kids to get the vaccine was prepared in advance, assuming it would be approved soon.

The city is still investigating what happened and doesn't have all the answers yet.