A box containing nearly two dozen Moderna Covid-19 vaccines has been found in the street of a mountainous town in rural Puerto Rico, officials said Wednesday.
The reports appear after a Moroccan resident handed over a container of syringes and vaccination vials to Morovis Municipal Police officers. The person claims to have found the box in a street in the Barahona area in Morovis.
Carmen Maldonado, Mayor of Morovis, said she spoke to Puerto Rico’s Deputy Health Secretary, Dr Iris Cardona, “so that the matter can be investigated immediately. Thank you to the Morovis citizen who called the municipal police responsibly and has lodged the corresponding complaint. ” Maldonado tweeted in Spanish.
Puerto Rican Health Minister Carlos Mellado confirmed at a news conference Wednesday afternoon that the agency is investigating the matter and is conducting an interview with the person who found the box.
‘We are talking about 31 vaccines that were unfortunately lost. I am very upset and especially angry, “Mellado said in Spanish. “We need to investigate the final consequences, because there is an urgent interest from the Puerto Rican people to know what happened.”
In a statement Wednesday night, Mellado said he had received an update on the ongoing investigation. The vaccines were delivered under federal contract at a Walgreens pharmacy, intended for residents of a long-term care facility.
Mellado said he gave investigators 24 hours to submit a report with their findings in order to assess responsibility and refer the case to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the Department of Justice or any other agency. with jurisdiction. ‘
“Managing vaccines during an emergency requires all providers to act as responsibly as possible,” Mellado said in Spanish.
On the island of 3.2 million people, the virus infected at least 91,834 people and killed 2,007.
Puerto Rico has received nearly 630,000 doses of Covid-19 so far. Of these, at least 598,000 have been distributed across the island and more than 418,000 have been administered, officials said at the press conference.
Sixty-eight percent of those vaccinated received only the first dose of the vaccine, while 32 percent had already received their second dose.
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