A Regina pharmacist is barred from practicing after admitting to administering expired COVID-19 vaccines.
In a Saskatchewan College of Pharmacy Professionals discipline committee ruling handed down last month, Gordon Matthews was stripped of his licence.
According to the committee's decision, Gordon Matthews was fired from his employer in November 2022 after allegations related to administering expired COVID-19 vaccines and the related record keeping.
The decision outlines how Matthews admitted to giving approximately 15 expired monovalent Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines to patients.
Matthews administered the expired vaccines on or around Nov. 20 and 21, 2022 at a grocery store pharmacy in Regina.
He said he believed it was the correct vaccine at the time and did not notice any expiry label.
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After he was confronted about the potential error, the college says Matthews altered the Nov. 20 and 21 consent forms to make it appear as though he administered a dose of the then-new bivalent vaccine, meant to give more protection against the dominant coronavirus strains at the time, rather than the older monovalent vaccine he in fact had delivered.
He also removed the vaccine vial in question and threw it away after other staff pharmacists started looking into the error, according to the college.
Additionally, the college says Matthews delivered 0.5 milliletres rather than the 0.3 milliletres of the vaccine he was supposed to administer.
Under the decision, Matthews would need to take several steps before he can reapply for admission to the college and resume work as a pharmacist.
Matthews would need to re-complete all injection training and certification required to be granted Advanced Method Certification and provide proof of completion.
He would also have to complete and provide proof of completion of an ethics and boundaries course.
Matthews must pay a total of $9,600 before to cover the cost of the investigation and hearing.
According to the decision, Matthews was a licenced pharmacist and a member of the Saskatchewan College of Pharmacy Professionals until July 1 and was first registered with the college in 1976.
Matthews had worked at the pharmacy in Regina where the offences occurred since June of 2022 and had never been the subject of any proceedings in Saskatchewan.
The patients who received incorrect vaccine doses were later informed by the pharmacy, according to the college.
