Mistake Forces Hospital To Discard Nearly 600 Coronavirus Vaccines

A hospital in Kansas was forced to throw away 570 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine because of a mistake with storing it. When Lawrence Memorial Hospital received the shipment, staff members put the vials into the freezer, where they would be kept until they were ready to be distributed.

Staff members didn't realize that the vaccines had already been thawed when they put them into the freezer. When they realized their mistake, they contacted Johnson & Johnson and were told the vaccines had to be thrown away.

While the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines must be stored in freezers to keep them from going bad, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine does not need to be frozen and can be stored in a regular refrigerator.

Hospital officials are working to reschedule the appointments that had to be canceled and are trying to replace the spoiled doses.

"Although this is a small percentage of the overall vaccines that the county has received, we know it is not insignificant — this is a heart-wrenching situation for our hospital, our Phase 2 community members, and our Unified Command partners," LMH Health President & CEO Russ Johnson.

The hospital is reviewing its procedures for handling vaccines and will make changes to ensure a mistake like that doesn't happen again.

"We owe it to our community and to the many volunteers and staff who pour their hearts into the vaccination effort to see this through in a manner that is both efficient and effective. We have had a nearly flawless process to date, and we will determine where our processes failed and fix them," Johnson added.

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