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© Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post
A syringe is loaded with a coronavirus vaccine at the Fairfax County Government Center on January 2.
When the trucks arrived at 35 sites across Maine on Monday, workers opened them to inspect hundreds of vials of Moderna vaccine – another key shipment in the state’s efforts to inoculate residents with the coronavirus.
But when they looked at the electronic thermometers on the outside of the enclosures, they quickly found a problem: a red “X” on the monitors’ screens, alerting them that the vials had deteriorated due to improper temperatures at a temperature. particular moment of the journey.
Now, the state said on Tuesday, it may have to throw away 4,400 doses.
“It is always unfortunate that logistical problems of this nature arise, but it is also good to remember that the system has these safeguards in place so that, if they do occur, we know them immediately,” Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a press briefing.
The news came on the same day that Michigan officials announced that an even larger shipment of Moderna vaccine containing nearly 12,000 doses had been ruined by problems with temperature control during shipment, as reported on Detroit Free Press.
These findings sparked separate investigations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Moderna and a distributor to determine exactly how and why the vials were damaged.
“We are tracking a few incidents of temperature readings outside the acceptable threshold,” Kristen Nordlund, a spokesperson for the CDC told The Post in an email. “Either way, the process worked – the shipment was inspected and replaced as needed, while additional security reviews were completed.”
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The two cases highlight one of the ongoing logistical issues in the distribution of coronavirus vaccines, which must be stored between minus-25 degrees Celsius and minus-15 degrees Celsius (minus-13 and 5 degrees Fahrenheit), according to CDC guidelines.
In late December, a hospital outside of Milwaukee was forced to throw away hundreds of doses of the vaccine when a pharmacist “admitted to intentionally removing the vaccine from the refrigeration,” the hospital said. In New York City, health workers have had to drop doses of the vaccine in recent weeks after struggling to find recipients who met the state’s eligibility criteria.
Vaccine rollout continues to lag across the country as states, overwhelmed by high demand and insufficient supply, struggle to vaccinate millions of residents. As of Tuesday, 68,914 residents of Maine had received a first dose of the coronavirus vaccine – 5.1% of the state’s population, according to the Post’s vaccine tracking. The state was allocated 134,000 first doses.
As of Tuesday, 420,144 Michigan residents had received the first dose of the vaccine, representing 4.2% of the population that received the first dose, according to the Post’s vaccine tracking. Michigan received 947,000 first doses.
Wisconsin pharmacist who ‘intentionally’ wasted more than 500 doses of vaccine arrested, police say
Officials in Maine learned of the potentially compromised vaccines on Monday morning, when vaccination sites called to report that tracking thermometers on the boxes indicated that “the minimum required temperature had been exceeded,” Shah said.
By the end of the day, Shah said, 35 of the 50 sites that had received the Moderna vaccine that day had reported temperature issues. Sites that were unable to use the vaccines were to receive replacement doses on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to Shah.
In Michigan, authorities have learned in recent days of thousands of ruined doses through McKesson Corp., a healthcare distribution company tasked with shipping coronavirus vaccines to the state. The vials, which were shipped Sunday, “have had their temperatures reported as being out of range and too cold,” the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement.
The discovery sparked an investigation by McKesson, who said the company learned on Monday that some shipments of Moderna vaccine shipped on Sunday “arrived at administration sites cooler than the bottom of the manufacturer’s stated temperature range. ”
“McKesson is replacing these vaccines,” David Matthews, a spokesperson for the company told the Post in an email. We also identified the root cause of the problem – some of the gel packs used to maintain proper temperatures during transport were found to be too cold – and took steps to prevent this from happening again in the future. ”
The vaccines are currently in quarantine, Matthews added, “pending a determination on their viability.”
A review of the doses to be shipped on Monday, McKesson told the Post, found that a “small percentage of those shipments were also affected by the gel pack issue.” The company has not shipped these doses and is expected to replace them within the next 24 hours, Matthews said.
A spokesperson for the state’s health department told the Free Press that no one had been injected with the spoiled vaccine doses.
Most of the replacement shipments were sent late Monday, with the rest expected to arrive Tuesday, according to the state health department.
“While it is unfortunate that this vaccine cannot be used, we are pleased that the safeguards in place to ensure the integrity of the vaccine have worked,” said Joneigh Khaldun, Michigan Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Director in chief of health. “This is the first report of a potentially compromised vaccine in shipment to Michigan and we are working quickly with the distributor to ship the replacement vaccine.”
In a press conference on Tuesday, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) said she was frustrated by the news that the vaccines had to be thrown away.
“I know we’re in a race and every vaccine counts,” Whitmer said. “But it’s not something I can control. It is not the fault of the State of Michigan. … This is part of the bumpy road we all travel nationwide. ”
Carolyn Johnson contributed to this report.
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