COVID-19 vaccine is lost

(NBC NEWS) – A Columbus vaccine supplier was suspended by the Ohio Department of Health, accused of failing to monitor the temperature at which COVID-19 vaccine doses were held.

According to the Ohio Department of Health, SpecialtyRX, a vaccine supplier in Columbus, was given 1,500 vaccines to vaccinate residents in eight long-term care facilities for the new year.

After administering the first doses, ODH said SpecialtyRX had 890 doses left. The company was looking for a transfer of the doses to another supplier when it was discovered that they had not properly controlled the temperature in their refrigerator and freezer, according to ODH.

The health department requires all suppliers of COVID-19 vaccines to monitor and record the minimum and maximum temperatures of refrigerators and freezers every workday.

The doses cannot be used due to the lack of temperature monitoring.

“If you deviate from those storage conditions, you’re essentially going to waste the product,” said Dr. Zach Jenkins, infectious disease expert and associate professor of pharmacy at Cedarville University. “You really have to throw it in the trash, so to speak, and one of the reasons is that we just don’t have the data to tell us how stable and secure that product is beyond that time frame. “

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