Over one million Virapro disinfectants recalled from healthcare locations

MORE THAN ONE MILLION units of a disinfectant that has been recalled were distributed to health service locations across the country, according to the Health Service Executive.

The HSE had received 3,128,876 units of Virapro disinfectants, which have since been recalled by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Navy.

Of the three million Virapro disinfectants obtained by the HSE, two million have been quarantined.

In a statement to TheJournal.ie, HSE said 1,036,074 units of the disinfectant had already been delivered to health service locations.

“This represents less than 10% of the HSE stock and there is ample stock available in HSE storage to replace it,” the HSE said.

“The HSE has mobilized a product recall team that immediately quarantined all stock currently in the national PPE distribution centers and a recall notice has been issued for all unused Virapro stock from the locations. of health services that will help to understand and establish how much needs to be raised and replaced “.

On Thursday, the Department of Agriculture notified HSE Procurement that Irish distributor Virapro’s biocides license had been revoked.

Virapro products were removed from the Biocidal Products Register with immediate effect, which meant that it was no longer legal for use or sale in Ireland and had to be withdrawn from circulation.

The HSE said it “acted immediately to address this matter.”

The centrally held stocks had already been quarantined. On October 23, 2020, a Product Withdrawal Notice was issued to the entire health system through protocols established through the management line. This Product Recall Notice is cascaded from each of the national functions to the local services. “

“A dedicated recall team has been established to coordinate the collection of products currently in the health system,” he said.

“Last night, October 23, the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine also informed HSE of the need to recall all products bearing the Virapro name and return them to the supplier.”

“Even though HSE has established that no more products with the Virapro name have been supplied” as part of the national PPE supply chain, this morning, October 24, a second Product Recall Notice was issued for the entire PPE system. Health “.

Schools

Several schools were forced to close yesterday after the Department of Education issued a notice that the specific brand of hand sanitizer was being recalled.

The department is now conducting a review of other products obtained for use in schools as a “precautionary measure.”

Talking to TheJournal.ie, a spokesman for the Department of Education said that “all of the vendor’s products in question were removed from the Department’s multi-vendor agreement on Thursday.”

“The Department of Education is proactively reviewing all other relevant products in its education sector procurement agreement with the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine as a precautionary measure and this work is ongoing,” the spokesperson said.

In announcing the recall of the Virapro disinfectant, the department had said that “schools affected by this can make local arrangements to purchase stocks of hand sanitizers and can maximize the use of hand washing to support necessary hand hygiene.”

“If a school that is affected judges that it is necessary to do so, they can choose to close for the day or close early on Friday, October 23,” the department said.

Virapro disinfectants were also recalled from the store market, including Circle K, where it was phased out and replaced with an alternative for staff and customers.