Updated at 9:54 p.m.
The pharmaceutical company Moderna has determined that 860 doses of Covid-19 vaccine stored at Springfield Hospital are still viable for use, the Vermont Department of Health announced Thursday night.
The announcement came two days after the hospital alerted the state that the vaccine may have reached a temperature higher than recommended by the company. During a press briefing Wednesday, Secretary of Human Services Mike Smith suggested that those doses might have to be discarded.
After conducting a comprehensive review, Moderna ultimately concluded that the vaccine was safe to use, the department said. No doses were destroyed.
“Based on a deeper review and totality of the facts, Moderna determined none of the doses were impacted by temperature inconsistencies and can be used with full public confidence,” the department said in a press release late Thursday.
“The public can have confidence in the care and vaccine they receive from Springfield Hospital,” Dr. Mark Levine, the state health commissioner, said in a written statement.
The Moderna vaccine is sensitive to temperature. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it has to be stored between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius.
Springfield Hospital had two sensors monitoring the vaccine temperature, and they indicated no problem. However, a state sensor picked up a 9.1 degree Celsius reading, which means the vaccine was potentially out of the acceptable temperature range.
At a press briefing Wednesday, Smith said it was up to Moderna to make the final call on whether the vaccines could still be used. “They have the final say on this,” he said.
Earlier Thursday, the department said it was working with Springfield Hospital to investigate the storage issues and planned to conduct a site visit that day.
Hospital spokesperson Anna Smith said Thursday that the institution was working to ensure that similar problems did not occur in the future.
“We’ve modified the storage trays to allow for maximum air flow; and as a precautionary measure have replaced the glycol in the bottles that hold the probes that connect to the external sensors,” she said in an email. “The units will be under very close monitoring and supervision by our pharmacy team.”
Even as the hospital awaited word Thursday on the fate of the 860 doses in question, it was preparing to receive another shipment of 120 doses to be used at a clinic on Friday serving frontline staff and health workers.
According to the Department of Health, only 99 doses of the vaccine — or 0.1% of those the state has received — have been spoiled.
