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BOSTON (AP) – Nearly 2,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine were spoiled at a Boston Veterans Affairs hospital after a contractor accidentally unplugged a freezer, hospital officials said Thursday.
Jamaica Plain VA Medical Center staff discovered on Tuesday that a freezer had failed, compromising 1,900 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
The freezer plug was found to be loose after a contractor accidentally unplugged it during cleanup, according to a statement from Kyle Toto, a spokesperson for VA Boston Healthcare System. The freezer was in a safe place and had an alarm system, he said.
The system is investigating the cause of the incident and why the surveillance alarm system did not operate. More doses are on the way, Toto said, and officials “don’t foresee a disruption” to the system’s immunization effort.
Temperature issues have caused problems for vaccine deployments in other states.
Nearly 12,000 doses of Moderna shipped to Michigan on Sunday were spoiled after it got too cold. In Wisconsin, a pharmacist faces charges after authorities said he deliberately ruined hundreds of doses by removing them from the refrigerator for two nights.
Moderna vaccine should be stored at regular freezing temperatures, but not in the ultra-cold required for injection of Pfizer-BioNTech.
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VIRUS IN FIGURES
On Friday, the number of newly confirmed coronavirus deaths increased by 80, while the number of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases increased by more than 4,900.
The new deaths brought the number of confirmed COVID-19 deaths in the state to 13,702 and the number of confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic to nearly 468,000.
The actual number of cases is likely higher, as studies suggest that some people may be infected and not feel sick.
More than 2,000 people were hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Friday, including around 420 in intensive care units.
The average age of those hospitalized was 71 years old. There were more than 89,000 estimated current active cases of COVID-19 in the state.
The number of probable or confirmed COVID-19 deaths reported in long-term care facilities has risen to 7,857.
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