Child Dies After Routine Vaccination At Mercy Clinic -Family Demands Investigation

By Grace Bryant Mollay

A six-month-old child has tragically died following a routine vaccination, sparking grief, outrage, and calls for an urgent investigation into the operations of Mercy G. Memorial Clinic in Du-Port Road, Monrovia.
Speaking to The Inquirer on June 11, the grieving father, Darlington Hoggard, said his son had just turned six months old and was taken to the clinic to receive the scheduled immunizations for that age.
However, shortly after returning home, the baby fell critically ill, experiencing persistent crying, seizures, and ultimately death.

“It was his sixth month. We took him for the vaccines he was supposed to get. But after we came back home, he cried all night. We didn’t know what was wrong,”Hoggard recounted.
The situation escalated early Monday morning when the parents contacted their private doctor around 5 a.m. for help.

The doctor, familiar with the child’s medical history, advised that the baby be returned to the clinic where the vaccines were administered.
Upon arriving at the clinic, the family was met by a nurse who claimed to be licensed but admitted she was new and unfamiliar with the supervising doctor on duty.

“We were trying to understand what happened. The nurse said she didn’t know who the supervising doctor was, which made things even more confusing,”Hoggard said.
As the child’s condition deteriorated, the family rushed him to the 14 Military Hospital, where medical staff immediately identified that he was suffering from seizures and in need of oxygen.

According to the father, doctors at the hospital asked several questions regarding the vaccines the child had received and his feeding history.
“We told them he was given MCV1, MCV2, and some of the other routine vaccines.

But the doctor told us something shocking at six months, a child is not supposed to receive an injectable vaccine but rather an oral dose, a small drop placed on the tongue,” Hoggard explained.
MCV1 and MCV2 refer to the first and second doses of a measles-containing vaccine.

These are typically administered through routine immunization programs, with MCV1 given at around 9 months and MCV2 between 15 to 18 months of age.
Some countries may vary the schedule slightly based on their national health guidelines and measles transmission rates.

The revelation has raised serious concerns for the family.
“If our son was given the wrong vaccine or the wrong dosage, then something went very wrong,”Hoggard said tearfully.

According to the family, they have reached out to contacts at the Ministry of Health, which has reportedly promised to launch a formal investigation not only into Mercy Clinic but also into other facilities in the area, including several reportedly operated or staffed by foreign nationals.

“We are heartbroken. We trusted the clinic with our son’s life. Now he’s gone,”Hoggard said.
The family is now calling for accountability, not only to seek justice for their son but also to prevent similar tragedies from happening to others.

“He was our first child. We were doing everything right. And now he’s gone because someone didn’t do their job,” the father said.
Reaching out to the Management from the Mercy G. Memorial Clinic, James Kollie noted that the Clinic do not have any comment on the situation.

“ I am in a meeting with Ministry of Health, WHO and others, so we do not have any information about the situation,” he said