Three shipments of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine were delayed in distribution after it was discovered that they did not maintain a stable temperature during transit.
All three shipments arrived in Texas last week and were initially due to be delivered before Christmas.
It was unclear how many total doses were affected, although the federal government replaced the shipments, Bloomberg News reported.
The Moderna vaccine requires storage at temperatures between minus 13 and 5 degrees Fahrenheit or between 36 and 46 degrees Fahrenheit up to 30 days before being discarded.
The Texas State Department of Health Services reported that the delays have created the appearance that the state has only administered a small portion of the vaccines it has received, according to Bloomberg.
“Some of the shipments for week 2 were delayed and were not received by suppliers until
Monday and Tuesday of this week, “spokeswoman Lara Anton told Bloomberg.
Carrie Kroll, vice president of advocacy, quality and public health for the Texas Hospital Association, told Bloomberg that some Texas hospitals face immunization follow-up issues.
“There seems to be a vaccine sitting on the shelf when it’s actually been administered,” Kroll said
dit.
The United States has experienced other obstacles to achieving its goal of vaccinating 40 million Americans also in the first week of January. Earlier this month, 50 vials of the Modern Vaccine had to be thrown in Wisconsin because a medical center employee did not return them to the storage freezer after initially removing them to remove another item.
As of Tuesday, nearly 11,445,000 doses of vaccine have been distributed in the U.S. and a total of 2,127,143 people have received the initial shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.