Three shipments of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine were delayed from distribution after it was discovered that they did not maintain a stable temperature during transit.
All three shipments arrived in Texas last week and were originally supposed to be delivered before Christmas.
It was unclear how much total doses were affected, although the federal government has replaced shipments, Bloomberg News reported.
Moderna’s vaccine requires storage at temperatures between minus 13 degrees and 5 degrees Fahrenheit or between 36 degrees and 46 degrees Fahrenheit for up to 30 days before it needs to be thrown away.
The Texas Department of State Health Services reported that delays have created the impression that the state has only administered a small fraction of the vaccines it has received, Bloomberg said.
“Some shipments for week 2 were delayed and only received by the providers
Monday and Tuesday of this week, ”spokeswoman Lara Anton told Bloomberg.
Carrie Kroll, vice president of advocacy, quality, and public health at the Texas Hospital Association, told Bloomberg that some Texas hospitals have trouble tracking immunizations.
“It will look like there is a vaccine on the shelf when it is actually administered,” Kroll
said.
The US has faced other obstacles in reaching its goal of vaccinating 40 million Americans in the first week of January as well. Earlier this month, 50 vials of the Moderna vaccine in Wisconsin had to be thrown away because a medical center employee had not returned them to the freezer after initially removing them to dispose of another item.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 11,445,000 vaccine doses have been distributed in the U.S. as of Tuesday, and a total of 2,127,143 people have received their first injection.