Nearly 12K doses of Modern COVID-19 vaccine destroyed on the way to Michigan, state officials say

LANSING, Mich. – Michigan officials said 11,900 doses of Modern COVID-19 vaccine the state was receiving were destroyed and unusable.

“It frustrates me when I know we’re in a race and every vaccine counts, but that’s not something I can control. It’s not Michigan’s fault, “said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Twenty-one shipments of the Moderna vaccine have become unusable due to temperature issues with the distributor. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the vaccine should be stored in a freezer at minus 13 degrees to 5 degrees Fahrenheit. The distributor, McKesson Corporation, told the state that the temperature was out of range and became too cold, affecting almost 12,000 doses.

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In a statement, Dr. Joneigh Kaldhun, Michigan’s chief medical officer, said, “This is the first report of a potentially compromised vaccine during transportation to Michigan and we are working quickly with the distributor to get the replacement vaccine shipped.”

McKesson said he “identified the root cause of the problem – some of the gel packs used to maintain adequate temperatures during transport proved to be too cold – and took steps to prevent this in the future.”

State officials said most of the 21 transports were resented Monday night. However, six additional shipments were also retained to ensure that there were no problems with the vaccine. This state has warned that it could delay scheduled vaccinations at various suppliers’ locations.

“I’m sure people who had appointments, who were scheduled at the facilities that were supposed to receive those special shots, were frustrated that they couldn’t get them,” Whitmer said.

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