Orange County vaccine: Supersite relieved to avoid losing thousands of doses

ALISO VIEJO, Calif. (KABC) – Orange County narrowly avoided a major vaccine crash on Wednesday, after a refrigeration problem at a vaccination supersite potentially rendered thousands of doses unusable.

A pharmacist discovered on Tuesday evening that a refrigeration unit at the Soka University site containing vials of Pfizer vaccine was operating slightly outside the recommended temperature range.

This triggered precautionary measures as the site set aside the daily supply of doses. For much of Wednesday’s day, it remained unclear whether some or all of that day’s supply should be thrown away.

The Aliso Viejo site normally distributes around 3,000 doses of vaccine per day.

This was particularly concerning at a time when vaccine stocks remain tight and in high demand as the coronavirus continues to infect thousands of people every day across California – and new, more contagious variants become more prevalent in the world. ‘State.

But at the end of the day, news brought a sigh of relief: after consulting with the manufacturer, they determined that the refrigeration issue was not enough to interfere with the doses and they could still be dispensed.

“After reviewing the details, the manufacturer indicated that the temperature variance did not affect the safety or effectiveness of the vaccine and confirmed that the vaccine could be safely administered according to the normal protocol,” County officials said in a written statement.

Although the doses in question were put on hold, additional doses were introduced and all scheduled appointments were honored, officials said.

The Soka site, which opened on January 23, is what the county calls a super POD or distribution point, capable of thousands of appointments in a single day.

RELATED: Orange County Opens Second Super Vaccination Site

According to data last week, the county had administered the first doses of the vaccine to more than 196,000 people and the second doses to about 46,000 people.

Immunization information and appointment scheduling for Orange County can be found here on Othena.com.