Oregon health workers who were trapped in a snowstorm on Tuesday began administering leftover coronavirus vaccines to roadside drivers, instead of wasting doses, local officials said.
Josephine County public health staff and volunteers were leaving a vaccine clinic at Illinois Valley High School, about 160 miles south of Eugene, when a storm left them and many more on Highway 199.
The team had six doses of the Covid-19 vaccine remaining from the clinic, which they planned to administer near Grants Pass, but snow prevented them from reaching the city before the prepared doses expired.
“Not wanting to miss a dose, dedicated JCPH employees started to drive from car to car, offering jailed drivers the chance to get the vaccine,” the health department said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
About 20 health professionals and volunteers were part of the group, including Christi Siedlecki, whose family had just volunteered at the vaccine site and witnessed the roadside clinic.
“Watching them go from car to car in that horrible weather filled me with pride,” Siedlecki told NBC News. “I was grateful that they worked so hard not to waste a single dose of the vaccine, even in such horrible conditions.”
All six vaccines were successfully administered to those trapped in the snow, including one to an employee of the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office, said Josephine County Public Health.
“It is important for people to know how dedicated health professionals are to injecting people with each dose,” said Siedlecki. “My community should be very proud. I am.”