Top vaccination errors—and how to avoid them

Administering the wrong vaccine and vaccinating someone of the wrong age are the most common vaccination errors, according to a new report from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) National Vaccine Errors Reporting Program (VERP). Over the past four years of tracking errors from outpatient settings, ISMP found that the wrong vaccine accounted for 23% of all errors. This was followed by wrong age (20%); wrong vaccine dose (12%); extra vaccine dose (9%); and wrong vaccine interval (7%). “Thirteen percent of all reported vaccine errors were due to confusion that arose between numerous age-dependent vaccines that target the same diseases, particularly with influenza virus vaccines, hepatitis A and B vaccines, and various combination vaccines that target diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis,” ISMP said in its July 28 Acute Care ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Another 13% of the errors involved lack of familiarity with the recommended ages for various vaccines or a failure to...