Staff at Kaiser Permanente Lakewood Medical Offices on Thursday threw out 165 doses of COVID-19 vaccine after it was destroyed after a power outage at the plant.
The power outage, which Kaiser said was short-lived and caused by strong winds, caused a refrigerator in which doses of Moderna’s vaccine was stored to stop working, causing the vaccines to exceed the required storage temperature.
Staff at the facility worked all day to administer as many doses of the vaccine as possible and were able to give 135 people shots before the vaccine expired, Kaiser said in a statement.
“The power to the facility and the refrigerator has since been restored and the refrigerator at this location used to store the Modern COVID-19 vaccines is working properly again,” the statement read. “No other Kaiser Permanent facility has been affected.”
The incident reflects how fragile COVID-19 vaccines are. For example, doses of Pfizer should be stored at ultra-cold temperatures. Both shots must be fired quickly. The state also told providers, such as local public health agencies and hospitals, that they should administer the shots within 72 hours of receiving them.
Colorado receives approximately 70,000 doses of vaccine per week.
This is the second known case of COVID-19 vaccines being discarded. Pueblo Local Public Health “has rendered 300 doses of the Pfizer vaccine unusable after a portable vaccine storage unit failed,” a spokesman for the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment said in an email.
“The state’s goal is to use every available vaccine, recognizing that emergencies can occur regularly in the distribution process,” the spokesman said.
As of Wednesday, Colorado has administered 270,800 doses of COVID-19. This includes giving 46,897 people their second shot, according to the state health department.
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