CLEVELAND, Ohio – There are many unconfirmed rumors that pharmacists and other healthcare professionals discard precious doses of COVID-19 vaccines that are about to expire or give them to the privileged few, rather than eligible people on long waiting lists.
Vaccines are scarce and waiting lists are long. This is well documented. But are the stories of vaccines that go to waste or ineligible arms true or are they just products of hyperactive imaginations?
Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer sought answers by contacting the Ohio Department of Health, the Cuyahoga County Health Council and some private vaccine providers. Here’s what we found:
Has the county or state received reports of vaccines going to waste?
The county council reported that it had not received reports from pharmacies or other vaccine suppliers discarding unused doses.
By email, Ohio Department of Health spokeswoman Alicia Shoults left open the possibility that unused ones could be discarded, stating only that the department had not received any reports of “widespread waste of preventable vaccines” beyond of the incidents already reported.
Two of these incidents – one in January, in which 890 doses went to waste, and another in February, in which residents in five nursing homes had to be revaccinated – were related to not storing the vaccines at the right temperature, and not to the remaining doses. .
According to state guidelines, providers should contact ODH if there is a risk of deterioration in more than 20 doses. Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer asked the state to provide records showing how often this occurred. The department has not yet responded to the request.
Why are doses not used?
People who have signed up for a vaccination may cancel at the last minute or simply not show up. In addition, the vaccine is stored in vials containing multiple doses, so providers can miscalculate the number of vials needed during a vaccination session.
Why would leftovers be a problem?
Once opened or prepared for distribution, Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines should be used within six hours. Doses not used in six hours cannot be returned to storage.
What to do with leftovers?
The Ohio Department of Health suggests, but does not require, that each Ohio provider – pharmacies, health departments, health clinics, or others – have a “receiver reserve plan in place” to administer doses before they expire.
Under this backup plan, providers must first give the leftover vaccine to people who are currently eligible. Today, this includes adults aged 65 and over, teachers or others in the Phases 1A and 1B groups.
If these people cannot be found in time, doses can be given to the general public, but with priority for people with underlying medical conditions.
What types of backup plans are there?
Some vendors, including pharmacies like Discount Drug Mart, use waiting lists.
“In each store, we build a list of people we know who are eligible and who would be willing to come by in a relatively short time to be vaccinated,” said Jason Briscoe, director of pharmacy operations for the Ohio drugstore chain. “We will proactively call patients so they can get there in comfort” before the vaccine expires.
The Drug Mart also tries to monitor appointments and vaccine use throughout the day, so that pharmacists know by mid-afternoon (instead of, say, 8 pm) whether doses will be left over that day, Briscoe said.
The Cuyahoga County Health Council has no waiting list for its drive-through vaccination clinics at the county fair grounds in Berea. But spokesman Kevin Brennan said the board has a plan to avoid waste.
“We reduced the number of open routes in the units and decreased the volume of vaccine at each station an hour before the end of the clinics to ensure that there is no waste,” said Brennan.
In the rare case of missed doses, the numbers are small and the board contacts long-term care facilities, health care providers or EMS workers to find eligible beneficiaries, Brennan said.
Would the state or county consider establishing a centralized waiting list?
No, neither the state nor the county is considering establishing a core list that can be accessed by multiple providers.
Brennan said on the county council: “Each provider is responsible for its own vaccine supply, so the idea of mixing all providers on a waiting list is not practical in terms of responsibility, logistics and execution. As suppliers, we are better served by taking care of our respective supplies ”.
Waiting lists are better maintained and used by individual suppliers, said Shoults. The state is working on a centralized vaccine registration system, but which aims to schedule regular appointments, not opportunities to obtain vaccine leftovers.
What options are there for people who want leftover doses?
People who wish to be added to a waiting list will have to contact individual providers.
Some Discount Drug Mart locations have been approached by so-called “vaccine stalkers” – people who “stay in the parking lot in the hope of an extra dose,” said Briscoe. But he said he would not suggest this approach as a viable option, because it would only work in very limited circumstances.
“First, there would have to be extra doses,” he said. “Second, we would have to have exhausted our entire waiting list of eligible people who were unable to appear. If this were the event, and there was no one [eligible] at the store, the person on the lot would be vaccinated. “
Securing the remaining vaccine would also be unlikely at MetroHealth, said spokesman Mike Tobin.
“In general, we are not going to give it to a guy who shows up, waits, if there is a patient in the hospital that we know qualifies. That is the advantage of [administering vaccine] in a clinical setting, ”said Tobin.
Is help available elsewhere?
yea.
A Facebook group, Ohio Vaccine Hunters, provides a platform for sharing tips and clues for purchasing the remaining doses.
And for those who need assistance with scheduling regular vaccination appointments, two Northeastern Ohio – nicknamed “Queens of the Vaccine” – are helping older adults find jobs.