After a freezer filled with Covid-19 vaccines broke, a California hospital rushed to administer more than 800 doses in about 2 hours

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And they accepted the challenge.

The management team at Adventist Health Ukiah Valley Medical Center in Mendocino County were informed during a safety inspection Monday morning that a freezer was found to be at room temperature, Judson Howe of Adventist Health told CNN. And the alarm to warn staff of the temperature change was also malfunctioning.

Unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the Moderna vaccine can be stored in normal freezers and does not need to be transported ultra cold. But at room temperature, the vaccine can be kept for about 12 hours, Howe said.

Hospital officials contacted Moderna but did not hear back. So the hospital decided to race the clock and administer the vaccines.

“Our main focus was to make sure we got every vaccine in every arm. We contacted the district health officer and informed them of the situation and with a concerted approach we were able to get all 830 vaccines in an issue. from two o’clock, ”Howe said.

Hospital officials had about two hours to coordinate all efforts.
The freezer comes because local and state leaders across the country have made an effort to get all the vaccines distributed – amid what has also been a slower introduction of vaccines than hoped for. In California, only about 27% of the vaccines that have been distributed have ended up in the guns so far. Gavin Newsom this week pledged “aggressive action” to speed up vaccine delivery, including a waiver allowing dentists to administer the vaccine after training.

About 200 doses went to the county to be administered, 70 went to skilled nursing facilities, and the remainder went through four clinics, prioritized according to state guidelines, said medical officer Dr. Bessant Parker.

The emergency was “all hands on deck,” Parker says, and he too “ran around” to help coordinate the process.

“Since this was an emergency, we focused on as many people as we could quickly mobilize within the levels, and the rest was for the general public on a first-come, first-served basis,” said Parker. The hospital had to turn down at least 200 people who showed up to look for the vaccine. Those who received their shot were given CDC cards for tracking purposes.

“The reality is that we were faced with a difficult situation and we were not going to let any vaccine go to waste,” Howe added.

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The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said vaccines were administered to 97 people, including deputies, public safety personnel, corrections deputies, and other essential personnel.

NaphCare, the inmate health care provider in the county, administered the vaccines, adding that they were distributed according to state health department guidelines.

“We had an unexpected ‘use or lose’ event,” said County Carmel Angelo CEO. “Many thanks to Adventist Health for their prompt report, to NaphCare nurses for administering the vaccines, and to the Sheriff’s Office for providing space and staff support. We hope this never happens again, but we’ve learned we can do it soon. mobilize to serve our community. ”

The province has reported more than 2,600 cases of the virus. It is part of the state-designated Northern California region – which has about 30% ICU availability and is the only group of counties not currently under a mandatory stay-at-home order. The other four regions, which comprise more than 98% of the state population, all have an available ICU capacity of less than 15%, which has triggered the order to stay at home.

CNN’s Cheri Mossburg contributed to this report.

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