The colossal mistake occurred at a COVID-19 vaccination site in Grand Prairie.
Dallas County requires individuals to register online prior to receiving the vaccine, and date of birth is required on the registration form.
In a statement, a Dallas County judge wrote that human error by a third party overseeing the county’s immunization registry list was the primary cause of the error.
The judge said the automated classification process initially identified the minors as not yet eligible and placed them on a list with others who are not eligible. Once eligibility was opened to include those over the age of 16, human error caused the minors to be moved to an eligible group without checking age requirements.
Jenkins said the county’s Information Technology department is working with that outside company to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
As of March 29, Texans age 16 and older became eligible to receive the vaccine in Texas.
However, it has not yet been approved for people under that age.
“At this time, we do not have enough information about children to say that they are ready to receive this dose or these particular vaccines, so it is premature for us to administer it,” said one expert.
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