After a freezer filled with the Covid-19 vaccine broke, a California hospital began delivering more than 800 doses in about 2 hours.

01/06/2021 Health



And they took the challenge.

The executive team at Mendocino County’s Adventist Health Yukiyah Valley Medical Center was informed during a security inspection Monday morning that the freezer was found to be at room temperature, Judson Hoe of Adventist Health told CNN. And there was also a defect in the alarm to warn employees about temperature changes.

Unlike the Pfizer-Bioentech vaccine, the Moderna vaccine can be stored in a common freezer and does not require super-cold transport. But at room temperature, the vaccine has a shelf life of about 12 hours, Hoe said.

Hospital officials contacted Moderna but no voice was heard back. So, the hospital decided to run the clock and carry vaccines.

“We made sure we got every hand vaccine. Our main focus was to reach out to the county’s public health officer and inform him of the situation and with a collaborative approach, we were able to administer all 830 vaccines in a matter of two hours,” Howe said. Said.

Hospital officials spent only two hours coordinating all efforts.
The freezer bust comes as local and state leaders across the country scramble for the administration of all distributed vaccines – which have also been a slower vaccine rollout than expected. In California, only 27% of vaccines distributed have made it into a weapon. Government Gavin News this week promised to take “aggressive measures” to speed up vaccine administration, including an amnesty, which would allow dentists to administer the vaccine after training.

About 200 doses went to the county for administration, 70 went to skilled nursing facilities and the remaining four passed through clinics, prioritizing according to state guidelines, said medical officer Dr. Besant Parker.

The crisis was “in everyone’s hands on the deck,” Parker says, and, too, was “running around” to help coordinate the process.

“Given this catastrophic situation, we focused on getting as many people as possible inside the tires quickly, and the rest were for the general public on a first-come, first-served basis,” Parker said. At least 200 people had to return to the hospital who showed up to be vaccinated. Those who got their shots were given CDC cards for tracking purposes.

“The reality is that we were presented with a difficult situation and we will not allow any vaccine to be wasted,” Hoe added.

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The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said 97 people were vaccinated, including deputies, public safety personnel, reformers and other essential personnel.

The vaccine was administered by Nefcare, a health care provider for county inmates, adding that it was distributed in accordance with state health department guidelines.

“We had the expected event‘ used or lost, ’” said Carmel Angelo, the county’s CEO. “Many thanks to Adventist Health for their prompt instruction, Nicafer nurses for vaccine administration, and Sheriff’s Office fees for providing space and staff support. We hope this never happens again, but we know we can quickly come together to serve our community.” “

More than 2,600 cases of the virus have been reported in the county. It is part of the state-designated Northern California area – with approximately 30% ICU availability and is the only group of counties that are not currently under the mandatory stay-at-home order. The other four regions, which make up more than 98 %% of the state’s population, all have ICU capacity less than 1 %%, which has contributed to the state’s stay-at-home order.

Cherry Mossberg of CNN contributed to this report.

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