West Japan woman vaccinated four times, alternating between Pfizer and Moderna shots

AMAGASAKI, Hyogo -- A woman in her 50s received four coronavirus vaccine shots between early July and mid-August, the Amagasaki Municipal Government announced on Sept. 9.

The woman living in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, was vaccinated alternately with vaccines made by Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. So far, no adverse effects on her health have been reported.

According to the local public health center, the woman had an underlying medical condition. After receiving an inoculation voucher at the city hall in late June, she made appointments to receive COVID-19 vaccinations at a large-scale venue run by the prefectural government as early as possible. Later, on July 5, the city government mailed vaccination tickets to citizens aged 40 to 59, and the woman also received them.

When issuing the vaccination coupons at the city hall, she was cautioned to dispose of the vouchers that would be sent by mail, but the woman made appointments at the clinic she regularly uses with the ones she received by mail.

In early July, the woman was able to get the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine at her clinic at the earliest opportunity, but after that, she did not cancel her appointment for the Moderna vaccine at the large-scale venue and received two doses at each location.

The woman filled out her pre-vaccination screening questionnaire sheet to give the impression that she had not had any duplicate vaccinations. She reportedly explained that "it was hard to cancel the reservation for the large venue."

(Japanese original by Kiyomasa Nakamura, Hanshin Bureau)