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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio hospitals, pharmacies, health departments and others have reported that 4,214 doses of the coronavirus vaccine could not be used because they expired before being administered, were broken or damaged or not kept at good temperatures, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
A total of 4.6 million first and second doses have been administered in Ohio.
The Department of Health does not have a breakdown of how many vaccines were missed because Ohio residents canceled their appointments, or injections were sent to providers in areas of. the state where more people are skeptical about vaccines. It is therefore not known exactly which of the unusable vaccines expired before they could be used due to these circumstances.
The numbers of unused vaccines by supplier are at the bottom of this story.
Ohio received its first doses of the vaccine on December 14. The Ohio Department of Health has provided an unusable vaccine count until March 22.
“With 4.6 million doses administered as of March 22, 2021, unusable doses reported by state providers represent about 0.1% of doses administered – less than the CDC’s expectation of 5% of unusable doses,” said Alicia, spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Health. Shoults.
The 4.6 million vaccines include first and second doses. They do not include unused vaccines sent to providers participating in federal allowance programs – such as those given in nursing homes during the first few days of vaccinations or doses that Ohio pharmacies participating in the federal program of. retail pharmacy receive.
Cincinnati-based Kroger, for example, started out as a vaccine supplier in the state before the federal program was put in place. Then it became a federal supplier, but in some cases it was a state supplier, such as administering vaccines to school employees, Shoults said.
Shoults noted that on February 24, Pfizer changed the storage requirements for its vaccines.
“This updated guideline now allows undiluted frozen vials of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to be transported and stored at conventional temperatures commonly found in pharmaceutical freezers for up to two weeks,” she said.
As a result of this change, some of the doses labeled unusable earlier would now be considered usable.
Among some notable unused vaccine doses:
-Most providers only reported a handful of unusable doses of vaccine to the state.
-The City of Ashtabula Health Department reported 100 unusable doses and Cleveland University Hospitals reported 110 unusable doses. “Doses at the UH Cleveland and Ashtabula City Health Department experienced a temperature excursion in transit when shipped from the manufacturer, and spoiled before they even got to each facility,” said Shoults.
-On January 20, the Department of Health suspended SpecialtyRx from being a vaccine supplier after 890 doses became unusable. Refrigerator and freezer temperatures had not been properly monitored. This is the highest number of unusable vaccines reported by a single supplier in Ohio. Shoults said the company had taken corrective action to address the cause of the temperature incident and the Department of Health had resumed allocations.
-Wilson Care had the second highest number of unusable doses reported by a supplier: 500. The northwest Ohio supplier received a shipment before a holiday weekend and recharged the thermal shipping device as indicated. However, over the holiday weekend, temperatures fell outside recommended levels and doses could not be used. This happened before Pfizer’s revised temperature storage guidelines, Shoults said.
More coverage:
1,497 more coronavirus cases reported in Ohio: Monday update
The first coronavirus vaccines arrive in Ohio
Why coronavirus vaccinations at Ohio nursing homes – run by pharmacies and the federal government – have been fast, while other vaccines have been slow
Ohio Department of Health suspends SpecialtyRx after 890 coronavirus vaccines cannot be used after faulty temperature monitoring
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