Moderna concludes Springfield Hospital’s 860 doses of Covid-19 vaccine are viable

Updated at 21:54

Pharmaceutical company Moderna has determined that 860 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine stored at Springfield hospital are still viable, the Vermont Department of Health said Thursday evening.

The announcement came two days after the hospital alerted the state that the vaccine may have reached a temperature higher than the company recommended. At a press briefing on Wednesday, Human Services Secretary Mike Smith suggested those doses may need to be thrown away.

After conducting a full review, Moderna finally concluded that the vaccine was safe to use, the department said. No dose was destroyed.

“Based on further examination and the totality of the facts, Moderna determined that none of the doses were affected by temperature inconsistencies and could be used with the public’s confidence,” the department said in a press release Thursday night.

“The public can have confidence in the care and vaccines they receive from Springfield Hospital,” said Dr. Mark Levine, state health commissioner, in a written statement.

Moderna vaccine is temperature sensitive. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it should be stored between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius.

The Springfield hospital had two sensors monitoring the temperature of the vaccine and they did not indicate any problems. However, a condition sensor took a reading of 9.1 degrees Celsius, meaning the vaccine was potentially outside the acceptable temperature range.

During a press briefing on Wednesday, Smith said it was up to Moderna to make the final call to find out if the vaccines could still be used. “They have the final say on this,” he said.

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Earlier Thursday, the department said it was working with Springfield Hospital to investigate the storage issues and planned to conduct an on-site visit that day.

Hospital spokeswoman Anna Smith said Thursday that the institution is working to ensure that similar problems do not recur in the future.

“We modified the storage trays to allow maximum airflow; and as a precaution have replaced the glycol in the bottles that contain the probes that connect to external sensors, ”she said in an email. “The units will be under very close monitoring and supervision by our pharmacy team.”

Even as the hospital awaited information on Thursday on the fate of the 860 doses in question, it was preparing to receive another shipment of 120 doses for use on Friday at a clinic serving frontline staff and health workers.

According to the Department of Health, only 99 doses of the vaccine – or 0.1% of those the state has received – have been spoiled.