When Covid-19 vaccines are about to expire, healthcare professionals should strive to ensure they are used

When Covid-19 vaccines are about to expire, healthcare professionals should strive to ensure they are used

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In the worst cases, valuable doses have been wasted or thrown away. However, doctors’ quick thinking, mixed with a little luck, made them administer vaccines in unique circumstances.

On Thursday night, after a freezer containing doses of vaccine malfunctioned in Seattle, a nearby hospital had less than nine hours to administer more than 800 vaccines before they broke down. Pfizer-BioTech and Moderna vaccines require certain low temperatures for storage and have a limited shelf life when exposed to room temperature.

Swedish Health Services told CNN that it quickly enrolled eligible recipients in the short term via social media. Volunteers from clinical and non-clinical hospitals called to manage the site.

“No vaccine went to waste last night,” spokeswoman Tiffany Moss told CNN on Friday.

Swede was not the only place to attend that night. An additional supply of the broken freezer went to the University of Washington, where employees and volunteers administered vaccines at two of its centers, according to CNN affiliate KOMO.

Smart solutions and quick action by healthcare professionals across the country, in the face of the total loss of a vaccine stock, have benefited those who are in the right place at the right time.

Only while stock lasts

On January 4, similar to Thursday’s recovery in Seattle, a California hospital found that its modern vaccine-freezer was broken.

Officials at the Mendocino County Ukiah Valley Adventist Health Medical Center told CNN that they realized after a security inspection that they had about two hours to administer more than 800 doses.

“Our main focus was to make sure that we put all vaccines in all arms,” ​​Judson Howe, an executive at Adventist Health, told CNN. “We contacted the county public health officer and reported on the situation and, with a collaborative approach, we managed to administer all 830 vaccines in a matter of two hours.”

“The reality is that we faced a difficult situation and we were not going to waste any vaccine,” said Howe.

After a freezer full of Covid-19 vaccines broke, a California hospital struggled to administer more than 800 doses in about 2 hours.

About 200 doses went to the county to administer, 70 went to qualified wards and the rest went to four clinics, prioritized according to state guidelines, said medical officer Dr. Bessant Parker.

“As this was an emergency, we focused on as many people as we could quickly mobilize within the layers, and the rest went to the general public, based on the order of arrival,” said Parker.

In Oregon, Josephine County Department of Public Health officials were returning from a mass vaccination clinic on Tuesday, when group members were trapped in their cars in a snowstorm.

The group had six remaining doses of the vaccine, according to the health department. To prevent these doses from being left unused before expiring, workers went from car to car to offer people a chance to have a chance.

The workers found six candidates, including a sheriff’s office worker who intended to be at the previous mass vaccination event, but was trapped in the snow, according to the health department. A nearby ambulance is monitored if any recipient experiences an adverse reaction.

Wasted opportunities

Other situations on the ground have not been as successful.

On January 22, nearly 2,000 doses of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine stored in a hospital freezer in Boston were compromised after a cleaning company accidentally loosened the freezer lid. The installed alarm system did not work as expected.

In Ohio, the Department of Health announced on January 20 that it was suspending allocations to a Columbus vaccine supplier after nearly 900 doses were wasted through improper transportation. An investigation was launched into concerns that cooling temperatures were not sufficiently monitored.

A shipment of 4,400 doses to Maine on January 18 was initially considered to be outside the appropriate temperature range, according to the state’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention. An ongoing investigation by the vaccine distributor later determined that the doses could still be used because they could have been stored in a very cold temperature, rather than being too hot.

Another reported failure may have been intentional. In December, a pharmacist in Wisconsin was fired and later arrested for removing vaccine bottles from storage, rendering them useless. Researchers believe the man removed the vaccine “knowing that it would not be usable,” according to a statement.
Health workers trapped in snow administer coronavirus vaccine to trapped drivers
With the growing frustration of state governors and local officials over the vaccine’s release, some say the need to protect each dose remains imperative.
California Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly spoke earlier this month about the need for each vaccine to be used when there is an oversupply, even for recipients who are out of the highest levels of need.

“We just want to say that we shouldn’t waste a vaccine,” said Ghaly. “We know that our providers and those in charge of vaccination are very caring and innovative people, that they have access to individuals who are at high risk levels. And they should do everything they can to make sure they’re giving the vaccine to those who were considered to be most at risk based on our priority groups, our faces and our tears. “

“But, of course, don’t waste a vaccine.”

CNN’s Andy Rose, Alta Spells, Christina Maxouris, Stella Chan, Elizabeth Joseph, Dakin Andone, Sahar Akbarzai, Joe Sutton, Carma Hassan and Rebekah Riess contributed to this report.

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