PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) – Two Portland hospitals released more than three dozen doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and state health officials were initially unaware of the wasted traits, according to a report.
Oregon Health & Science University lost 15 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine after a vial broke and two were mixed incorrectly, according to The Oregonian / OregonLive Wednesday. Legacy Health wasted 27 doses when it could not find health care workers to take the leftover vaccine before it expired. The vaccine should be kept at extremely cold temperatures to be effective and should be administered quickly.
Missed doses reflect only 0.07% of vaccines administered in Oregon to date.
It is unclear whether doses in other parts of Oregon have been wasted.
The Oregon Health Authority said it learned of the wasted doses from the newspaper and confirmed them to OHSU and Legacy, although Legacy said it had previously reported the information to the state as required.
The state reported 764 new confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases and eight more fatalities on Wednesday.
More than 60,000 doses have been administered, but nearly 75% of the doses delivered to the state (about 225,000) have not yet reached the arms of Oregonians. Gov. Kate Brown has requested 12,000 vaccines a day by the end of next week, but the state is still well below that target with 2,800 doses given Wednesday.