More than 2,400 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been wasted in Tennessee’s most populous county since earlier this month, state health officials confirmed this week.
The Tennessee Department of Health has confirmed thousands of wasted doses as part of a survey launched last week. The investigation followed reports that more than 1,000 doses of the vaccine had been allowed to expire before they could be administered in Shelby County, which includes Memphis.
The state health department found that Shelby County Health Department wasted more than 2,400 doses of COVID-19 vaccine in seven separate “incidents” dating back to February 3, the department confirmed in a statement Tuesday.
One of the incidents, which led to the expiration of hundreds of vaccines, was due to the winter storms that hit the state earlier this month, which delayed vaccinations.
The health department also confirmed that health officials in Shelby County had about 51,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine in their inventory, nearly 30,000 more than they should have stored to plan a few weeks of distribution. .
The overdose is not expected to expire until early next month, Tennessee Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey told a news conference Tuesday.
“It’s important to get this right for the people of Shelby County and for the state as a whole, because we’re working to ensure a fair and efficient distribution of this life-saving vaccine to Tennessee in all communities, especially the most vulnerable and disadvantaged,” Piercey said. in Tuesday’s statement.
Following the investigation, health officials in Shelby County will no longer be allowed to distribute COVID-19 vaccines. Instead, Memphis officials, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and other partners will distribute the vaccinations.
The state investigation also led to shootings.
State health officials found that employees of the Shelby County Department of Health did not have direct access to the vaccine supply. Only one pharmacist, who is not an employee of Shelby County and instead was hired under a contract, had direct access to vaccines.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris (D) announced on Tuesday that the city fired the site director of the health department who was responsible for overseeing the relationship with the contract pharmacist. The county also demanded the removal of the pharmacist from the administration of vaccines.
Tennessee health officials administered at least 767,826 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine, representing about 11.2 percent of the state’s population, according to a Washington Post dashboard.