More than 2,400 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been wasted in Tennessee’s most populous county since earlier this month, state health officials confirmed this week.
The Tennessee Department of Health confirmed the thousands of missed doses as part of an investigation launched last week. The investigation followed reports that allowed more than 1,000 doses of vaccine to expire before they could be administered in Shelby County, which includes Memphis.
The state health department found that the Shelby county health department wasted more than 2,400 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in seven separate “incidents” dating back to Feb. 3, the department confirmed. in a statement Tuesday.
One of the incidents, which resulted in the expiration of hundreds of vaccines, was due to winter storms that hit the state earlier this month and delayed inoculations.
The health department also confirmed that Shelby County health officials had approximately 51,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine in their inventory, nearly 30,000 more doses than they should have stored in order to plan several weeks of distribution.
Overdoses are not expected to expire until early next month, Tennessee Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey confirmed at a news conference Tuesday.
“It’s important that we get this right for the people of Shelby County and for the state at large, as we work to ensure an equitable and efficient distribution of this life-saving vaccine in Tennesseans to all communities, especially those most vulnerable and underserved people, “Piercey said in a statement Tuesday.
As a result of the investigation, Shelby County health officials will no longer be able to distribute COVID-19 vaccines. Instead, Memphis City officials, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and other partners will distribute the vaccines.
State investigation has also sparked shootings.
State health officials found that employees of the Shelby County Health Department did not have direct access to the supply of vaccines. Only one pharmacist, who is not an employee of Shelby County and was hired on a contract basis, had direct access to the vaccines.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris (D) announced Tuesday that the city fired the site manager of the health department who was responsible for overseeing the relationship with the contract pharmacist. The county also called for the pharmacist to withdraw from the administration of the vaccines.
Tennessee health officials have administered at least 767,826 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine, representing approximately 11.2 percent of the state’s population, according to a board from The Washington Post.