(Newser)
– About 500 doses of the beautiful Modern coronavirus vaccine have been released at a Wisconsin clinic after an “unwanted human error.” Fifty vials, each containing 10 doses of vaccine, were removed from a refrigerator at Grafton Aurora Medical Center, about 20 miles north of Milwaukee, on Friday so that a person could access other items inside the refrigerator, according to a statement from attorney Aurora. Health, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The vials were not returned to the refrigerator. The error occurred before 12 hours had elapsed, meaning that some of the vaccine doses could still be administered. But most had to be ruled out on Saturday, as the vaccine cannot withstand room temperature for longer.
The Modern vaccine is sent frozen and, once thawed, the jars can be stored in the refrigerator (at temperatures between 36 degrees Fahrenheit and 46 degrees Fahrenheit) for up to 30 days. “We are clearly disappointed and sorry that this has happened,” said Advocate Aurora Health officials, who have vaccinated some 17,000 employees over the past two weeks, for Journal Sentinel. Earlier this month, the Albuquerque newspaper reported that a 75-dose shipment of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine to New Mexico had to be ruled out “after a digital device showed it overheated on transportation to a Clayton hospital.” A spokeswoman for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said it was “probably a malfunction of the digital data recorder.” (Read more stories about the coronavirus vaccine).