PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Two Portland hospitals threw out more than three dozen doses of the COVID-19 vaccine altogether and state health officials were initially not aware of the wasted shots, according to a report.
Oregon Health & Science University lost 15 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses after a vial broke and two were mixed improperly, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported Wednesday. Legacy Health wasted 27 doses when it couldn’t find health care workers to take surplus vaccine before it expired. The vaccine has to be kept at ultra-cold temperatures to be effective and must be administered quickly.
The wasted doses reflect just 0.07% the vaccines administered in Oregon so far.
It’s unclear if doses in other parts of Oregon have gone to waste.
The Oregon Health Authority said it learned of the wasted doses from the newspaper and then confirmed them with OHSU and Legacy, despite Legacy saying it had previously reported the information to the state as required.
The state on Wednesday reported 764 new confirmed or presumptive coronavirus cases and eight more fatalities.
More than 60,000 doses have been administered, but nearly 75% of the doses delivered to the state - some 225,000 - have yet to make it into the arms of Oregonians. Gov. Kate Brown has called for 12,000 vaccinations per day by the end of next week but the state is still far short of that goal with 2,800 doses given on Wednesday.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.