Three shipments of Moderna coronavirus vaccine were postponed after distribution was found not to maintain a stable temperature in transit.
All three shipments arrived in Texas last week and were originally to be delivered before Christmas.
It was unclear how many total doses were affected, although the federal government replaced the shipments, Bloomberg News reported.
The Moderna vaccine requires storage at temperatures between minus 13 degrees and 5 degrees Fahrenheit or between 36 degrees and 46 degrees Fahrenheit for up to 30 days before being discarded.
The Texas State Department of Health reported that the delays made it appear that the state administered only a small portion of the vaccines it received, according to Bloomberg.
“Some deliveries for week 2 were delayed and were not received by suppliers until
Monday and Tuesday of this week, “spokeswoman Lara Anton told Bloomberg.
Carrie Kroll, vice president for advocacy, quality and public health at the Texas Hospital Association, told Bloomberg that some hospitals in Texas face problems following immunizations.
“There will appear to be a vaccine on the shelf when it was actually given,” Kroll said
said.
The United States faced other obstacles in reaching its goal of vaccinating 40 million Americans in the first week of January. Earlier this month, 50 ampoules of the Moderna vaccine had to be dumped in Wisconsin due to a medical facility employee failing to return them to the storage freezer after initially removing them for another item. .
As of Tuesday, nearly 11,445,000 doses of vaccine had been distributed in the United States and a total of 2,127,143 people had received the initial blow, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.