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

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And they rose to the challenge.

The management team at Adventist Health Ukiah Valley Medical Center in Mendocino County were told during a safety inspection Monday morning that a freezer was at room temperature, Judson Howe, of Adventist Health, told CNN. And the alarm that was supposed to alert staff to the change in temperature had also malfunctioned.

Unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the Moderna vaccine can be stored in normal freezers and does not require ultra-cold transport. But at room temperature, the vaccine has a shelf life of about 12 hours, Howe said.

Hospital officials contacted Moderna but did not receive a response. So the hospital decided to race against time and administer the vaccines.

“Our main goal was to make sure we have all the vaccines in each arm. We contacted the county public health official and briefed him on the situation and through a collaborative approach we were able to administer all 830 vaccines in a matter of two hours, ”Howe said.

Hospital officials had about two hours to coordinate all the efforts.
The freezer collapse comes as local and state leaders across the country scrambled to get all the vaccines distributed – amid what has also been a slower-than-expected vaccine rollout. In California, roughly 27% of the vaccines that have been distributed have been turned into weapons so far. Gov. Gavin Newsom this week pledged “aggressive action” to speed up administration of vaccines, including granting a waiver that will allow dentists to administer the vaccine after training.

About 200 doses went to the county to be administered, 70 went to skilled nursing facilities and the rest went through four clinics, prioritized according to state guidelines, said physician Dr Bessant Parker.

The emergency was “everyone on the bridge,” Parker says, and he too was “running around” to help coordinate the process.

“Since this was an emergency, we focused on as many people as we could quickly mobilize within the stands, and then the rest were for the general public on a first come, first served basis.” Parker said. The hospital had to refuse at least 200 people who showed up for vaccination. Those who received their shot were given CDC cards for tracking purposes.

“The reality is that we were faced with a difficult situation and we were not going to let a vaccine go to waste,” Howe added.

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The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said vaccines were administered to 97 people, including MPs, public safety personnel, correctional assistants and other critical staff.

NaphCare, the health care provider for county inmates, administered the vaccines, adding that they had been distributed according to guidelines from the state health department.

“We had an unforeseen ‘use it or lose it’ event,” County CEO Carmel Angelo said. “Many thanks to Adventist Health for their prompt notification, to the nurses at NaphCare for administering the vaccines, and to the Sheriff’s Office for providing the space and staff support.” We hope this doesn’t happen again, but we have learned that we can mobilize quickly to serve our community. “

The county has reported more than 2,600 cases of the virus. It is part of the designated region of the state of Northern California – which has around 30% ICU availability and is the only group of counties that are not currently subject to a mandatory stay-at-home order. The other four regions, encompassing over 98% of the state’s population, all have less than 15% available intensive care capacity, prompting the state’s stay-at-home order.

CNN’s Cheri Mossburg contributed to this report.

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