By Wendy Osher
It is estimated that 1,386 doses of the Pfizer vaccine were compromised and ultimately discarded in Maui after it was discovered that a refrigerator door was not closing properly.
The incident occurred on Monday and the refrigerator is being repaired; but future doses will be stored in an alternative location, according to Maui Health.
“Our team immediately contacted Pfizer and it was determined that the bottles should be removed from clinical use and disposed of properly,” said Tracy Dallarda, spokeswoman for the Maui Health / Maui Memorial Medical Center, noting that the Department of Health and partners The Hawaii Health Association has also been notified.
“We thank Maui Health for taking immediate corrective action and for being transparent about what happened. We recognize that each vaccine has different storage requirements and establishing large vaccination operations from scratch is a challenge for any healthcare provider. We know that the Maui Health team is dedicated to protecting the people of Maui and is working to vaccinate their community as quickly as possible, ”said Hilton Raethel, president and CEO of HAH.
The state Department of Health confirmed that they were notified of the Maui incident today. The loss of the vaccine is the largest that has occurred in the state to date, although a total of 2,400 doses have been missed since the vaccine was administered. The remaining 1,014 doses have been lost in separate incidents across the state since mid-December, according to the DOH.
“The vast majority, or 881, of those 1,014 doses were lost when a vial or syringe was broken. Other doses were not administered after a vial was opened or the vaccine was placed in a syringe, but not administered, “according to DOH spokesman Brooks Baehr.
The more than 1,000 doses missed in incidents across the state represent less than 0.2% of doses administered in Hawaii. “In other words, less than two doses per 1,000 vaccines administered were missed before this unfortunate incident in Maui,” said Baehr.
Maui Health primarily administers the Pfizer vaccine, which needs to be stored at an ultra-low temperature. When the hospital’s website was being opened, an ultra-low freezer was donated by the University of Hawai’i Maui College for safe storage at appropriate temperatures. According to Maui Health, the vaccine is safely locked in the ultra-low freezer until it needs to be transferred to a refrigerator, where it is thawed and prepared for the week’s clinical appointments.
In the meantime, Maui Health says there is sufficient supply of the vaccine to continue its vaccination efforts and that all current and future consultations will remain on schedule.
“We want to assure our community that there will be no interruption to our vaccination efforts and, in fact, we are working on expanding these efforts that include increasing the hours of service and hosting pop-ups across the island,” said Mike Rembis, CEO of Maui Health.
According to Maui Health, COVID-19 vaccination clinics continue this week with thousands of appointments scheduled at the main lobby clinic at the Maui Memorial Medical Center and at the Kīhei clinic.
To date, Maui Health has administered more than 25,000 vaccines to Maui residents and will be in Lana’i this Saturday to further assist in their vaccination efforts. “Maui Health will also announce a new expanded site soon, which will allow for a greater increase in vaccination efforts,” said Dallarda.
In Maui, the DOH reports that 22.9 percent (36,047) of the population received the first dose of the vaccine; 10.4 percent (15,718) completed two doses; and 1,522 additional doses (of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine) were started and completed. In total, Maui County administered 53,287 doses out of a total population base of 167,417.