Soka University POD Vaccines Damaged, Viability Under Question

Mission Viejo CA

10 February, 2021

6:08 PM

Description

ALISO VIEJO, CA —As many as 6,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine may be lost after a refrigeration failure, officials say. The Soka University Super Point of Dispensing site suffered a major blow overnight after a refrigeration issue damaged at around 6,000 doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, CEO Frank Kim confirmed. "We don't have an exact number yet," he said. The Pfizer vaccine requires a special deep freezer and then is transferred to a refrigerator to begin the thawing process. Then, the vaccine is mixed and allowed to fully thaw at room temperature before inoculations can begin. Before use, the Pfizer vaccine must be used within six hours of being thawed to room temperature. According to the county, the pharmacists who arrived at work at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday to begin the process of preparing the vaccines noticed the refrigerator had malfunctioned, Kim said. Orange County Health Care is working with the Super POD site and the manufacturer to determine if the vaccines are viable. Orange County CEO Frank Kim said the doses were "potentially spoiled" and that none of the vaccines were used. Other doses were brought in so appointments made for Wednesday would not be affected. According to the county, Wednesday's appointments were not affected, although multiple delays were experienced by those arriving for their 8 a.m. vaccination appointments, Patch has learned. City News Service contributed to this report.