According to a report, nearly 2,000 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine were spoiled in a VA facility in Boston after a cleaning company accidentally unplugged a freezer plug.
The shots were discovered by Boston Pharmacy VA staff on Tuesday. At least 1,900 doses were compromised, Kyle Toto, a spokesperson for the VA Boston Healthcare System, told the Boston Globe.
“The plug was found loose after a contractor accidentally removed it while cleaning,” said Toto.
He added that he does not think the tainted doses will affect the rollout of the vaccine, telling the paper that replacement doses were already being provided.
Modern COVID-19 vaccines – as well as doses developed by rival Pfizer-BioNTech – must be stored at very low temperatures, between -13 and -5 degrees Fahrenheit. To maintain this temperature, the storage facilities at the Jamaica Plain VA Medical Center were equipped with alarms intended to activate if the doses become too hot or too cold, although they did not sound when the freezer was unplugged.
Toto said he wasn’t sure why the alarm didn’t go off.
“An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the incident and why the surveillance and alarm system was not working as expected,” he said.
According to the U.S. Department of Health, Massachusetts has recorded a total of 462,910 coronavirus cases and 13,622 deaths from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic last year.