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David MacMillan got lucky with a dose of Moderna Inc.’s Covid vaccine late on New Year’s Day. While shopping for groceries at Giant Food in Washington, DC, the 31-year-old paralegal walked past the store pharmacist scrambling to find takers for two doses after a couple of health workers ran out. their meeting. The store was due to close in 10 minutes and the thawed doses should be discarded.
Two of the store associates and another customer had already declined the photos. Mr. MacMillan and his 25-year-old friend gladly volunteered. “I was thrilled,” said Mr. MacMillan, whose TikTok post about the experience went viral. “It’s like being told you’ve won the lottery.
As scarce supplies are gradually released to the public, sometimes there are additional vaccines. The vials have an extra dose or two if the vaccine kits contain more effective syringes. Some people miss their appointments and their vaccines need to be given so that the vaccines are not wasted. Some vaccination sites are ready to deliver vaccines to new groups of people or want to move the vaccine across county or state lines to where people expect it to be held by officials. local authorities. Sometimes a freezer breaks, causing a race to get gunshots in the arms.
This is an additional layer of complexity for vaccination sites as they grapple with the logistics of the largest vaccination campaign in history. The Pfizer Inc. vaccine is stored below minus 76 degrees Fahrenheit and the Moderna vaccine below 5 degrees Fahrenheit. Once thawed, neither can be returned to the freezer.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said on Tuesday that everyone over 65 and anyone with pre-existing conditions should be eligible for the vaccine, releasing millions of doses it withheld for second doses. for healthcare workers. Expanded eligibility will help vaccination sites find willing takers. At the same time, some sites may not be able to deliver injections as quickly as they would like due to staffing issues due to a winter increase in Covid-19 cases. And some may still be faced with the problem of waste at the end of each day.
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