Several patients at a Virginia Kroger clinic received an empty shot instead of COVID-19 vaccine

• A Virginia Kroger location gave several patients "empty" shots during their coronavirus vaccination.
• The syringes were thought to have been previously filled before appointments started but were empty.
• The risks of pumping air into people's veins include causing air embolisms and blocking blood flow.

A Virginia Kroger gave several people "empty" shots that were supposed to contain vaccines for COVID-19, according to ABC 8News.

The healthcare professional who gave the shots to less than 10 people believed that the syringes had been previously filled by a colleague before the appointments started, a spokesperson for Kroger told 8News.

At first, the company told outlets 8News and CBS 6 that the syringes contained saline but later clarified that they were completely empty.

Read more: The 4 things the US is doing wrong in the fight against COVID-19, and what we should be doing instead

"All impacted customers were contacted and have received their COVID-19 vaccine. We thank these customers for their understanding and have apologized for their inconvenience," a spokesperson for Kroger told Insider.

The clinic is investigating the matter to prevent a similar situation from recurring in the future, and the Virginia Department of Health is aware of the incident, they said.

The retail chain aims to double its vaccine capacity to 1 million doses per week.

As of March 13, about 20% of the US population has received at least one dose of the vaccine for COVID-19, Bloomberg data show. More Americans have received vaccines than have tested positive for the virus, that report said. At the current rate, it will only take about 5 months until 75% of the US population, enough for "normalcy," according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, is inoculated.