WASTE NOT

Hundreds Hit COVID Vaccine Jackpot After Hospital Freezer Meltdown

They had only two hours before the vials would go bad, so all the priority rules went out the window.

It took a California hospital just hours to administer all its COVID-19 vaccines—because it had no choice. The compressor on the freezer storing the vials conked out and by the time it was noticed, the Moderna vaccine was two hours away from going bad. The Los Angeles Times reports that staff at Adventist Health Ukiah Valley Medical Center in Northern California hit the phones and arranged to give vaccines to local jail staff and residents of a nursing home. Then they set up four vaccination sites and recruited volunteer medical staff to give out the shots to all comers—some of whom might have waited weeks or months for the shots otherwise. “We just wanted to make sure none of this goes to waste,” Adventist spokeswoman Cici Winiger told the Times. Other hospitals across the country have struggled to administer the vaccines according to government priority lists.