Aurora officials: Discarded COVID-19 vaccine result of 'human error'

Some vials of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine had to be "discarded" after they were inadvertently removed from a pharmacy refrigerator at the Aurora Medical Center in Grafton on Saturday, Dec. 26, officials said. 

American biotech company Moderna has announced on June 11 that it will start the final stage of a COVID-19 vaccine trial in July. (Photo Illustration by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Adam Mesirow of Advocate Aurora Health issued the following statement on this matter on Monday, Dec. 28:

"We learned that about 50 vials of Moderna vaccine were inadvertently removed from a pharmacy refrigerator overnight. Our internal review determined that as a result of unintended human error, the vials were not replaced in the refrigerator after temporarily being removed to access other items. While some of the vaccine was administered to team members on Dec. 26 within the approved 12-hour post-refrigeration window, unfortunately, most of it had to be discarded due to the temperature storage requirements necessary to maintain its viability.

"After successfully vaccinating about 17,000 team members over the last 12 days, we are clearly disappointed and regret this happened."

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