COLUMBUS, Ohio — Federal and state officials are investigating the administration of “compromised” COVID-19 vaccine doses to five nursing homes in the state by Walgreens, Gov. Mike DeWine announced Tuesday afternoon.
Officials said vials of the vaccine where not kept at the temperature that is required by the manufacturer. As a result, the compromised shots, which were given Monday, may not be effective, and officials are investigating who may need to be “revaccinated.”
The affected facilities are Ashtabula County Residential Services Maples in Kingsville, Ashtabula Towers in Ashtabula, Heather Hill Care Community in Chardon, Six Chimneys in East Cleveland, Willow Park Convalescent Home in Cleveland.
“This was a case where the vaccine — the temperature was not kept where it should have been, in layman's terms,” DeWine said. “No harm to anyone, but these vaccinations will have to be done again. And so, no reasons to freak out to those nursing home, those facilities.”
DeWine said the affected individuals will be notified and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will assist in determining who should be vaccinated again.
Dr. Bruce Vanderhofff, chief medical officer of the Ohio Department of Health, said due to the improper storage, “The vaccine can't be relied upon to be effective, to work as it was designed.”
The doses shouldn't have been used due to the “uncertainty about the proper cold storage leading up to vaccination,” he added.
According to Vanderhoff, Walgreens identified the problem during its quality control processes, and notified the CDC and the vaccine manufacturer.
“Based on a conversation that I literally had with (Walgreens) just prior to this press conference, the guidance that they have received, leads them now to be working with the CDC and the impacted nursing homes, and nursing homes’ medical directors to determine which patients may need to be revaccinated.”
Walgreen Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kevin Ban said Tuesday night in an interview with CNN the company is continuing to investigate the incident.
“Transparency means that you have to call balls and strikes. In this particular situation, and I’m learning more about it, it would seem that our system has failed,” he said. “We’re trying to figure out exactly what happened there so we that we can protect it from happening again in the future. Importantly, none of the patients who received vaccine were injured.”
Ban said Walgreens quickly notified the proper authorities and the vaccine manufacturer.
“What we’ve learned is that we just need to revaccinate those people. But again it’s important to realize that this a really tricky process. This cold chain takes a lot of – literally, it takes cryogenic gloves – and so these things will happen, we just need to be transparent and we need to fix ‘em,” Ban said.
Vanderhoff said the state’s concern is making sure everyone received an effective vaccine.
“It is is not an issue, though, of any known harm having been done,” he said.
Officials said there were some individuals in the nursing homes who did not receive a shot from the impacted lot.
“The patients don't need to do anything. The CDC and the nursing homes and medical directors along with Walgreens are working to very carefully, identify any individuals who will need another vaccine, and then to ensure that they get that vaccine in a timely manner,” Vanderhoff said.
DeWine said there may be a wait period before those shots can be safely administered.