Health confirms mishandling and disposal of 200 doses of COVID-19 vaccines

The designated secretary of the Department of Health, Carlos Mellado, confirmed today that 40 bottles of the COVID-19 vaccine should be discarded after improper handling.

These 40 vials are equivalent to 200 doses of vaccine. The new day reported the loss of these vaccines earlier today.

“The person who received the vaccine box saw that it was like melted ice and what he did was put it back in the fridge. That, when the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) was consulted, especially in that case, the recommendation was not to use these vaccines. This is the only incident Puerto Rico hasMellado told questions from the press after a press conference at La Fortaleza.

He said the discarded vaccines were manufactured by the pharmaceutical company Moderna, and mismanagement took place last week.

“Corrective action has been taken. The CDC and the Department of Health are working with the center. I don’t want to say what the center is because they do a very good job and these are things that can happen even more with the handling of a new vaccine.said the doctor.

Mellado also acknowledged that Puerto Rico faces limitations in the number of COVID-19 vaccines received and the demand for vaccination. But he was confident that the problem would be corrected soon.

He pointed out that President-elect Joe Biden had sent a letter to the government announcing that it would increase the number of vaccines available. Currently, 40,000 are received weekly that are used immediately in vaccination centers, Mellado said.

“The number of vaccines will increase. He (Biden) orders an increase in the amount of vaccination for all states, including territories, “Mellado said, although he could not specify how many more vaccines the island will receive.

“So far, we have had 272,000 vaccines in Puerto Rico, of which 221,000 vaccines have been administered,” the official said.

The difference between the two figures, 51,000 vaccinations, corresponds to the second dose that each person already vaccinated should receive, Mellado explained.