HONG KONG - A Hong Kong public hospital has apologized for almost giving a woman an empty COVID-19 vaccine jab.

In a statement issued late Tuesday, a spokesman for the Prince of Wales Hospital said the incident happened at Ma On Shan Family Medicine Centre in the New Territories on Monday, during which a nurse noticed there was no vaccine inside the syringe after inserting the needle into the woman’s left arm.

She immediately withdrew the needle and subsequently administered the woman with another injection. 

The woman complained of dizziness, left-sided numbness and weakness around 10 minutes after the injection, a spokesman for  Prince of Wales Hospital said. But there was no apparent swelling or surgical emphysema detected by a clinic doctor

The woman complained of dizziness, left-sided numbness and weakness around 10 minutes after the injection, the spokesman said. But there was no apparent swelling or surgical emphysema detected by a clinic doctor.

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The woman was transferred to the hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department for further check-up, the spokesman said. She received a chest X-ray, electrocardiogram, computed tomography scan of the brain and other medical examinations. No abnormality has been found and the woman has decided to leave against medical advice, the spokesman added.

The hospital said it is very concerned about the incident and will review the procedures of vaccination administration to prevent a similar incident in the future.

It has apologized to the woman and has reported the incident to the Hospital Authority.

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The hospital also said it will keep close contact with the woman to render necessary support.

Local media reported that the woman was 31-year-old Hong Kong singer Vivian Koo Ya-mei.

“After the experience yesterday, I just want to say staying alive is the biggest blessing people can have,” she said on her Instagram on Tuesday, without specifying the incident.

As of Tuesday, more than 2.6 million Hong Kong residents have been inoculated with at least the first COVID-19 vaccine shot, accounting for 39.2 percent of people aged 12 or above. More than 1.85 million people have been fully vaccinated.