(Newser)
– A freezer containing the Modern coronavirus vaccine was in a safe place at a VA pharmacy in Boston, with an alarm system activated. On Tuesday, ABC reports, employees noticed that the freezer was not working. “The plug was found loose after a contractor accidentally removed it while cleaning,” a VA Boston Healthcare System spokesman said. “As a result, 1,900 doses of the Modern Covid-19 vaccine stored in the freezer were committed.”
Officials said they did not expect the disaster to affect vaccination schedules. “Replacement doses are in process,” the spokesman said. It has begun to be investigated, by NBC, why the alarm and freezer control system did not alert anyone. The Modern vaccine should be kept cold, but too low temperatures destroyed a shipment of nearly 12,000 doses on its way to Michigan this month, for NBC. (A freezer failure in California left a hospital two hours to administer its vaccine.)