The district blames the incident for a human error after a vaccine refrigerator was inadvertently turned off in a mobile unit, CNN affiliate WPBF reported. Health District Director General Darcy Davis said the compromised vaccine has been destroyed, according to WPBF.
In a statement, Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees said it was “a tragedy that even a dose of this critical resource would be destroyed and not used to save Covid-19’s life.”
Rivkees said he hopes to see the situation addressed and corrected immediately to ensure Palm Palm County does not allow more doses to be missed.
In the United States, nearly 34 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered, with more than 27 million people receiving at least one dose, or just over 8% of the population. Approximately 6.4 million people have received both doses, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
About 70 percent to 85 percent of the U.S. population should be completely vaccinated before the country can return to normalcy, Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN Tuesday night.
As part of the Palm Beach County audit, the health department is asking the district to do a full accounting of all vaccine-related procedures and equipment it has.
The Florida Department of Health has requested that the audit be completed by Feb. 12 and that all findings and corrective actions be reported to the state immediately upon completion, according to a press release Wednesday. .