Age: 33.0
Sex: F
Vaccine: COVID19, COVID19
Symptoms: HIV test negative, Hepatitis viral test, Syringe issue
Clinical narrative: Our vaccine appointment (first dose) was on 2/28/21 at 1:45pm. We were sat at the station close to the window with my husband on one side and me to his left, near the front door. The prepped vaccine needles were in a blue tray on the table with new packaged needles in the tray as well. Most needles were covered except for one syringe with no needle cover.   The nurse came back from administering the vaccine to an elderly person in their car. She may have discarded something in the trash but I didn?t see her put anything on the table. She introduced herself and I was the first to be vaccinated. I watched her grab the one syringe with the needle exposed. An alarm rang in my head but I figured if something was wrong she would notice and it all happened quickly. She stuck the needle in my left arm and then declared that there was no vaccine in it. It had been empty. When my husband questioned her and asked if there would be any problems if I accidentally got 2 doses she said no, then she said she knew there was no vaccine because she ?didn?t have to push." When I asked if it was a used needle she said definitely not. She said she always discards the used needles. Her explanation for the incident was that she sometimes has to change out the needle (if it has been exposed) so she may have changed the needle and accidentally pushed the vaccine out. She also mentioned that sometimes the vaccine may leak out.  There was no explanation for why the needle would be uncovered.  We felt somewhat at ease but then got input from other RN?s and decided to call and report to the pharmacy the next day (3/1/21) to be safe since it was an uncovered needle. The pharmacist spoke with the nurse and she and the nurse, along with her husband (who preps some of the vaccines) called us back and explained what may have happened. They said they would follow Medical Center protocol and pay for any lab tests needed. They also said they would look at the medical form of the elderly person who was vaccinated before us to ask if they had any viral infections such as HIV and Hepatitis C. NOTE: If that needle had been previously used it is not certain that it had been used on that specific person.  On 3/2/21 the pharmacist's husband called and said they went over their procedures and had determined that there was no way the needle was previously used/dirty. This determination seemed to be based on taking the word of the nurse instead of trusting me that I had seen the exposed needle lying in the plastic bin of prepped needles. He had a doctor, who was apparently present at the pharmacy, ask about my past medical history, which didn't seem relevant. He told me that from then on I should talk to my doctor and if my doctor had questions the doctor could call them instead of me calling them.   When my husband returned home later on 3/2/21 we tried to get the pharmacist or her husband back on the phone but they did not return our call.     On 3/3/21 we called the pharmacy and spoke with the pharmacist via telephone and asked her if she had reported the incident. She said they had reported it to VAERS. She told us that she had worked with the nurse for years and she was 95% sure the needle had not been previously used. She said if she were in our position she would contact her doctor to see what needed to be done (preventative measures, etc.) and that we should do that, and then have our insurance take care of it rather than having them get involved in paying for any blood work.   We have no interest in making life difficult for anyone. We just want the proper health protocols followed to ensure my safety and to avoid having to shoulder the financial burden of ensuring that safety since the incident occurred at their location and under their care.   We spoke with our physician later on 3/3/21 and gave him the phone number to Pharmacy. We are waiting to hear what his recommendations are for us.