SEATTLE (AP) – Seattle hospitals have taken COVID-19 vaccines to hundreds of people at midnight after a freezer in which they were stored failed.
It is unclear what caused the freezer to fail Thursday night, but the campuses at UW Northwest and Montlake Medical Center and the Swedish Medical Center received more than 1,300 doses that had to be used before they expired at 5:30 a.m. Friday. reported The Seattle Times.
The news of the unexpected doses spread on social networks, and a number of hopeful vaccine recipients wiped the door of the clinic through a parking lot at UW Medical Center-Northwest. One hundred people lined up at the Swedish Medical Center’s clinic at the University of Seattle. The hospital wrote on Twitter at 23:59 that it has 588 doses to give and, by 12:30, all the scheduling slots were taken.
At UW Medical Center-Northwest, assistant manager Jenny Brackett walked through the crowd shouting and asking if anyone was over 65. Many of those who showed up were too young and healthy to qualify for the current priority categories in Washington state for the distribution of vaccines. Brackett said the hospital is doing its best to vaccinate those eligible, but that the main goal is to take them in their arms and avoid waste.
Anyone who received the first blow on Thursday night will also receive the second blow in the two-dose regimen, regardless of age, said Cassie Sauer, president of the Washington State Hospital Association.
A woman snatched from the crowd at UW Medical Center-Northwest, 77-year-old Tyson Greer, said she woke up at 1 a.m. or 3 a.m. for more than a week to search online for coveted vaccination appointments. Finally, he received a blow at 1 a.m. Friday from Associate Chief Assistant Officer Keri Nasenbeny.
Many of the employees working at the vaccination clinic have been working since 7 a.m. Thursday, Nasenbeny said.
When she received news of the freezer failure, she called several nurses, who in turn recruited pharmacists and other volunteers. A Seattle firefighter appeared out of nowhere to help, and the lover of a hospital staff helped manage the queue.
Those who got the vaccine appreciated it. Sarah Leyden, 57, learned that photos are available from her wife, a hairdresser, who learned from a client who is a nurse.
“I was just lucky,” Leyden said.