BOSTON (WHDH) – Nearly 2,000 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine spoiled at the Jamaica Plain VA Medical Center earlier this week after a freezer failure, authorities announced on Friday.
The VA Boston Pharmacy team found that the freezer failed on Tuesday, resulting in compromised 1,900 doses of vaccine, according to a spokesman for the VA Boston Healthcare System. They all had to be thrown away.
“The freezer was in a safe place and had an alarm system installed,” said the spokesman in a note. “The plug was found loose after a contractor accidentally removed it during cleaning.”
Massachusetts Congressman Stephen Lynch confirmed that a pipe burst in a freezer set to -20 degrees, causing vaccine damage.
“At the moment, we believe it was a perfect storm,” Lynch told reporters during a news conference.
The alarm system never sounded when the contractor inadvertently released the plug.
Veteran Robert French says it’s a shame that the doses have been missed, but accidents do happen.
“Nineteen hundred people could have used this, but an accident is an accident. We are only human, ”he said. “I hope they get a little more and start distributing them, putting them into action, to save lives.”
Lynch added that the incident was “simply an accident”.
The recovered vaccines were transferred to Brockton.
The replacement doses are being processed and the spokesman says he does not foresee interruption of the vaccination effort.
Lynch noted that the state is taking “all reasonable precautions” to ensure that a similar incident does not happen again.
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