A routine equipment failure at Carroll County Public Health last week led to the discovery of a records-keeping issue within the department. According to Public Health Co-Director Carey Kersey, a refrigerator storing COVID-19 vaccines failed sometime on the evening of Thursday, Oct. 6 and was not discovered until the following morning. As a result, temperatures rose above-recommended levels, and the vaccines had to be destroyed as a safety precaution. Kersey says no doses were distributed to county clinics after the equipment’s failure.
Kersey says they are confident the refrigerator in question had been functional until last week’s failure, but the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) could not confirm a similar situation had not occurred since mid-July. Kersey says HHS recommended they contact their partner clinics out of an abundance of caution.
According to HHS, only 179 doses from the vaccine lots in question have been administered since July and affected patients have been contacted. Kersey says Carroll County Public Health has implemented new record-keeping practices to avoid a similar situation in the future and is seeking grants for the purchase of new storage equipment.
