(Newser)
– A freezer holding the Moderna coronavirus vaccine was in a safe place at a VA pharmacy in Boston with an activated alarm system. On Tuesday, ABC reports, employees realized that the freezer was not working. “The plug was found loose after a contractor accidentally removed it during cleaning,” said a VA Boston Healthcare System spokesman. “As a result, 1,900 doses of Modern Covid-19 vaccine stored in the freezer have been compromised.”
Officials said they did not expect the disaster to affect vaccination programs. “Completion doses are in the process,” the spokesman said. An investigation has begun on NBC into why the freezer alarm and monitoring system did not alert anyone. The Moderna vaccine must be kept cold, but too low temperatures have ruined a delivery of nearly 12,000 doses en route to Michigan this month on NBC. (A California freezer failure left a hospital for two hours to get its vaccine.)