Nearly 2,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine spoiled this week at the Jamaica Plain VA Medical Center in Boston, a spokesman confirmed, at a time when vaccine doses arriving in Massachusetts fell 73%.
The Veterans Affairs Boston Pharmacy team found on Tuesday that a freezer on the Jamaica Plain campus failed, ruining 1,900 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.
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A defect in the freezer discovered Tuesday at the Jamaica Plain VA Medical Center in Boston ruined 1,900 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.
A plug was released after a contractor “accidentally removed it during cleaning,” according to a VA spokesman. The freezer was in “a safe place” and had an alarm system installed.
An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the incident and why the monitoring and alarm system did not work. Replacement doses are in progress, the spokesman said, and the VA does not “anticipate interrupting our vaccination effort.”
But the number of doses sent to the state of the bay fell 73% this week, according to the Department of Public Health, with just 52,225 doses reaching the community.
The state’s latest vaccine report shows that 86,230 doses were administered this week, for a total of 359,919 doses in all. The report no longer divides data by first and second dose.
Thursday’s report noted the arrival of 157,300 doses of Moderna on January 12 that were not included in last week’s report.
The rate at which vaccines are being administered has dropped 24% in the one week period covered by the Thursday, January 13-19, report, compared to the previous week.
The two coronavirus vaccines approved so far in the country’s pandemic fight, from Pfizer and Moderna, from Cambridge, require people to receive two doses, which should be spaced out over three or four weeks.
President Joe Biden outlined his plan to increase vaccines in the United States on Thursday, promising that “help is on the way”.
Vaccines are the key to bringing society back to normal, as they have been discovered to offer the greatest protection against serious complications in people infected with the virus. The wide distribution of vaccines will trigger the final phase of the Massachusetts reopening plan, when restrictions will be lifted.
Vaccination started in Massachusetts last month. See the Baker government’s plan for the vaccine launch here.