Nearly 12,000 doses of the Modern COVID-19 vaccine ruined en route to Michigan, state officials say

LANSING, Mich. – Michigan officials said the 11,900 doses of the Modern COVID-19 vaccine the state was receiving are ruined and unusable.

“It frustrates me when I know that we are in a race and that all vaccines are important, but that is not something I can control. It’s not Michigan’s fault, ”said Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

Twenty-one shipments of the Moderna vaccine were rendered unusable due to temperature problems with the distributor. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the vaccine should be stored in a freezer between minus 13 degrees and 5 degrees Fahrenheit. The distributor, McKesson Corporation, informed the state company that the temperature went out of bounds and became very cold, affecting about 12 thousand doses.

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In a statement, Michigan Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joneigh Kaldhun said: “This is the first report of a potentially compromised vaccine during shipment to Michigan and we are working quickly with the distributor to get the replacement vaccine shipped.”

McKesson said he “identified the root cause of the problem – some of the gel packs used to maintain the proper temperatures during transport were considered too cold – and took steps to prevent this from occurring in the future.”

State officials said most of the 21 shipments were reshipped on Monday night. However, six additional shipments were also withheld to ensure that there were no problems with the vaccine. That state warned that this could delay scheduled vaccinations at multiple provider sites.

“I’m sure that people who had appointments, who were scheduled at facilities that were supposed to receive these particular photos, were frustrated that they couldn’t get them,” said Whitmer.

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