Seattle hospitals rush vaccines after freezer breakdown

SEATTLE, United States (AP) – Hospitals in Seattle shipped COVID-19 vaccines to hundreds of people in the middle of the night after a freezer in which they were stored failed.

It’s unclear what caused the freezer to crash Thursday night, but the Northwest and Montlake campuses of UW Medical Center and the Swedish Medical Center received more than 1,300 doses that were due to be used before they expired at 5:30 a.m. on Friday, the Seattle Times reported.

Word of the unexpected doses spread across social media, and a line of hopeful vaccine recipients slipped out of the clinic door and through a parking lot at UW Medical Center-Northwest. About 100 people lined up at the Swedish Medical Center clinic at Seattle University. The hospital tweeted at 11:59 p.m. that it had 588 doses to dispense and by 12:30 p.m. all the appointment slots had been made.

At UW Medical Center-Northwest, Assistant Administrator Jenny Brackett walked alongside the crowd shouting and asking if anyone was over 65. Many of those who showed up were too young and in good health to qualify under Washington state’s current priority categories for vaccine distribution. Brackett said the hospital is doing its best to vaccinate eligible people, but the main goal is to get him in the arms and avoid waste.

Anyone who received a first injection Thursday night will also receive the second injection of the two-dose regimen, regardless of age, said Cassie Sauer, president of the Washington State Hospital Association.

A woman drawn from the crowd at UW-Northwest Medical Center, Tyson Greer, 77, said she had been waking up at 1:00 or 3:00 a.m. for more than a week to search online for coveted vaccination appointments. She finally received a photo at 1 a.m. on Friday from Deputy Head of Nursing Keri Nasenbeny.

Many of the staff working at the vaccination clinic had been at work since 7 a.m. Thursday, Nasenbeny said.

When she learned of the freezer breakdown, she called several nurses, who in turn recruited pharmacists and other volunteers. A Seattle firefighter appeared to come out of nowhere to help, and a hospital staff member’s boyfriend helped manage the queue.

Those who branded the vaccine were grateful. Sarah Leyden, 57, learned the photos were available from her wife, a hairdresser, who heard from a client who is a nurse.

“I just got lucky,” Leyden said.