WEST PALM BEACH, Florida – More than 1,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were spoiled last week in Palm Beach County, after the Health Care District said a refrigerator was turned off involuntarily.
SPECIAL COVERAGE: Coronavirus
Spokesperson Robin Kish said on Friday that on January 22, team members identified 232 refrigerated bottles from Pfizer-BioNTech outside the required temperature control range.
These vials contained 1,160 doses of the COVID vaccine.
Kish said the Health Care District checked with the vaccine manufacturer, who found that the doses were unusable, so all the bottles were destroyed.
Authorities said the incident was caused when the power from the refrigerator that stored the vaccine was “turned off involuntarily”, causing the temperature to rise.
“The Health Care District immediately implemented additional layers of quality control measures in its management of the vaccine cold chain to maintain the integrity of the entire vaccine supply in the future. One of the additional safeguards includes centralizing all vaccine supplies daily in a secure location with 24/7 power generator backup, “Kish said in a written statement.
Health officials call it an “isolated incident caused by human error”, but it did not affect patient safety.
“The Health Care District can ensure that all COVID-19 vaccines provided to patients are always administered safely according to the highest standards of care. The public must have maximum confidence in the integrity of our vaccination system,” said Kish .
Since its vaccination efforts began on December 23, the Health Care District has said its health care system has provided nearly 25,000 COVID-19 vaccines across Palm Beach County.