A bottle of Moderna Inc. vaccine. Covid-19.
Photographer: Eduardo Munoz / Reuters / Bloomberg
Photographer: Eduardo Munoz / Reuters / Bloomberg
At least three shipments of Covid-19 vaccine from Moderna Inc. arrived in Texas last week with signs that the shots had deviated from the required temperature range, which led to a delay in other deliveries, according to the state hospital association.
Some shipments of Moderna vaccine that were scheduled to be delivered last week before the Christmas holidays were withheld due to temperature issues, said Carrie Kroll, vice president for advocacy, quality and public health at the Texas Hospital Association. It was not clear how many doses were generally affected.
Affected shipments have been replaced by the federal government, and others have been detained by U.S. officials because of a potential problem with temperature sensors, Kroll said. The Moderna vaccine must be kept frozen for transport and storage.
Temperature issues underscore how the U.S. has faced obstacles in its efforts to vaccinate 20 million Americans by the end of the year, a goal that appears to be untouchable. As of Monday, only 2.13 million people have received vaccines, even though 11.45 million doses of vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer Inc. have been distributed. and BioNTech SE.
Read more: US vaccinations at 200,000 a day are far from “Warp Speed”
A Moderna spokesman asked questions to the federal government and McKesson Corp., which distributes Modern vaccines.
Spokesmen for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and McKesson said they were looking into the matter. Spokesmen for Operation Warp Speed, the federal immunization program, did not respond to several requests for comment.
Texas State Department of Health officials confirmed that the doses were delayed, but did not directly answer questions about temperature issues.
“Some of the shipments for Week 2 were delayed and were not received by suppliers until Monday and Tuesday of this week,” said Lara Anton, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Services, in an email. . The delay contributed to the fact that Texas administered a relatively small portion of the vaccine doses allocated to the state.
Kroll, the hospital’s association official, said hospitals were only receiving a few doses that were expected a week ago, but figures from vaccine allocation in the states do not reflect the delay.
Other reporting issues may make it appear that Texas health care providers are taking fewer photos than they actually are, she said. Some hospital systems have had problems with the data system the state uses to track immunizations, she said. The images it manages are not recorded correctly in the central system, and discrepancies must be resolved on a case-by-case basis.
“There will appear to be a vaccine on the shelf when it was actually given,” Kroll said.
– With the assistance of Joe Carroll