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A Malaysian nurse has been fired for jabbing a 12-year-old boy with an empty syringe instead of the Covid-19 vaccine, Free Malaysia Today (FMT) reported.

The news comes after a video of the incident went viral on the internet, with multiple news outlets reporting on the matter.

Meanwhile, in a statement released on Oct. 2, Malaysian Deputy Health Minister and chairman of the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force-Adolescent (CITF-A) Noor Azmi Ghazali has apologised and said the incident was a "human error".

Nurse realised mistake afterwards

According to the Ministry of Health (KKM), the incident took place at the University of Malaya vaccination centre in Kuala Lumpur on Sep. 30, where the 12-year-old boy was supposed to receive his Covid-19 vaccine.

"The healthcare worker had followed procedure such as showing the process of extracting the vaccine from a vial, and showing the filled syringe with the right dosage to the boy's mother," Azmi said.

According to the video of the incident, the nurse then put the filled syringe on the table for a brief moment to disinfect the boy's arm with a cotton bud before picking up another empty syringe to jab the boy.

The CITF-A confirmed the error in their statement and said the nurse had realised her mistake subsequently and alerted the medical officer on duty.

They then discussed with the boy's parents and all parties agreed for the boy to be jabbed again.

Azmi mentioned in the Oct. 2 statement that the nurse involved had been given a warning, and internal procedures were "improved" to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

Not the first "empty syringe" incident

However, netizens appeared to be unsatisfied with the statement, as it was not the first "empty syringe" incident in Malaysia.

A commenter demanded the nurse to be fired "immediately", and said "absent-mindedness is unacceptable in the healthcare industry".

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Alliance for Safe Community Lee Lam Thye urged the authorities to not "trivialise" the "empty syringe" incidents as it will affect the public's confidence of the national vaccination project, New Straits Times reported.

Lee added that the mistake was an offence and called for punishment to be dealt to the nurse at fault.

But some netizens opined that the nurse did not deserve to be punished as she had rectified the issue "on the spot".

Another commenter called for the public to not escalate the issue as "everyone makes mistakes".

Parents and guardians allowed to accompany teenagers from Oct. 3 onwards

A day later (Oct. 3), Azmi issued another statement regarding the incident and said the nurse had been relieved of her duties.

To avoid further speculation about the vaccination drive for those who are underaged, Azmi added that one parent or guardian will be allowed to accompany them throughout the vaccination process from Oct. 3 onwards.

The parent or guardian will be required to "wait outside" after the vaccination is done, as the teenager undergoes observation for about 15 to 30 minutes.

"Adults accompanying the teenagers are allowed to record the vaccination process, and the healthcare worker is expected to show the 'perfectly filled' syringe to the recipient," Azmi added.

The politician also took the opportunity to thank healthcare workers and volunteers who are the "backbone" of the country's national vaccination programme.

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Top image via Hakan Nural/Unsplash & Jack de Jack/Facebook