Some 11,900 doses of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine were spoiled on the way to Michigan because they got too cold, state health officials said, the New York Post reported on Wednesday.
The shipments were sent on Sunday by McKesson Corporation, a Texas-based distributor, but were determined to be unusable after dipping below the federally recommended range of minus 13 degrees to 5 degrees Fahrenheit.
Health officials said the reason for the failure to maintain the correct temperature is under investigation by McKesson.
Michigan’s chief medical executive, Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, said that “Although it is unfortunate that this vaccine will not be able to be used, we are pleased that the safeguards put into place to ensure the integrity of the vaccine worked."
Enough usable shipments to replace the ones that were ruined were resent to Michigan by Tuesday.
Khaldun said the incident marked the first time there had been reports of a vaccine “potentially being compromised” during shipment to Michigan, where some 29,000 doses a day were administered last week.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said on Tuesday that she was frustrated by the incident, because “every vaccine matters,” the Detroit Free Press reported.
But she added “that’s not something that I could control. It’s not the state of Michigan’s fault … I’m certain that people who had appointments scheduled at facilities that were supposed to get those particular shots were frustrated, because they weren’t able to get them. That’s part of the bumpy road that we are all experiencing nationwide.”
More than a million doses of the vaccine from Pfizer and Moderna have reached Michigan since last month, but fewer than half that number have been administered to patients, according to Crain’s Detroit Business.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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