Kansas City-area CVS mistakenly thaws too much COVID vaccine — gives it to relatives
Call the CVS pharmacy at 1315 W. 23rd St. in Independence and the recorded message is clear: “The COVID vaccine is not currently available at CVS locations.”
But that was not true on Friday, when relatives of CVS employees were offered inoculations against the virus after a pharmacist there mistakenly thawed too much of the Moderna vaccine. CVS possesses the vaccine as part of a federal program to administer to residents of long-term facilities, but not yet to the general public.
In a statement to The Star, Mike DeAngelis, a senior director of corporate communications for CVS Health, said that on that Friday, the Independence location held a “state-approved vaccination clinic” for employees who are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
“On that same day,” the email statement said, “unused vaccine from a long-term care vaccination visit that could not be refrozen was returned to this pharmacy. Rather than discard any vaccine that was still viable, the pharmacy team used it to vaccinate employees’ family members whose age and/or health condition met the state’s Phase 1B eligibility requirements.”
For now, Missourians eligible for the vaccine in that phase include first-responders, seniors 65 and older and adults with conditions including cancer, obesity, sickle cell disease and diabetes. Not eligible yet are essential workers, such as teachers and grocery store workers.
The Star, however, was contacted about the vaccinations by an individual who wished to remain anonymous but was familiar with one of the persons vaccinated, a college student age 18 and not a CVS employee or relative. Others were in their 50s and healthy, said the person, who requested anonymity for fear of bad publicity for her business.
“We are following up with our local store teams to ensure that all protocols are being followed regarding handling and administering of COVID-19 vaccine,” DeAngelis said.
He declined to reveal how many family members were vaccinated or how many vials were mistakenly thawed.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said that the pharmacy did the right thing. Getting the vaccine into priority groups remains the state’s primary goal, said spokeswoman Lisa Cox, but if, on occasion, extra vaccine is in peril of going unused, it’s better to use that vaccine than not.
“Ultimately, our main concern is not allowing for wastage,” Cox said. “So if they run into that predicament where they the just need to make sure it’s not wasted and it can be used to vaccinate people, that’s what they need to do — whatever means necessary. I’m encouraged that they found a way to get it into arms.”
The Moderna vaccine is stored in frozen vials. According to the company, each vial contains enough vaccine for 10 shots. Once a vial is thawed, it can be refrigerated and last up to 30 days if the vial is unpunctured. Once removed from refrigeration, an unpunctured vial can last up to 12 hours.
Once thawed, vials should not be refrozen. If a vial is punctured, it must be disposed of within six hours.
“Someone doesn’t show up, and there is an extra dose,” Cox said, “if they can find an arm, no matter what priority group that person is in, that’s what we would advise them to do.”
Of some 375,000 doses so far administered in Missouri, Cox said, the department has received reports of 189 wasted doses that did not find their way into arms.
The federal government began distributing the vaccine to front-line health care workers in mid-December. Since then, some 44.4 million doses of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNtech vaccines have been distributed nationwide with close to 20 million people receiving one or more inoculations, according the COVID Data Tracker, operated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Recent CDC numbers show that Missouri ranks last among all 50 states in percentage of residents who have been vaccinated, at 4.3%. Kansas ranks 47th at 4.5%. One day after his Jan. 20 inauguration, President Joe Biden in a speech to the nation said, “The vaccines offer so much hope but the vaccine rollout in the United States has been a dismal failure thus far.”
On Tuesday, the president said the administration was nearing a deal with two manufacturers that would enable 300 million Americans to be vaccinated by the end of summer.
