Mayor Elicker: 100s need new shots because of storage snafu.
The Elicker Administration is now recommending that some 650 people get re-vaccinated against Covid-19 because the previous doses they received from the city had been improperly stored.
Mayor Justin Elicker and Health Director Maritza Bond revealed that information Friday at a 4 p.m. press conference, and in a follow-up email press release sent out after 11 p.m.
They said they discovered that Pfizer vaccines administered at the city health department offices at 54 Meadow St. between Dec. 23 and Feb. 7 had been stored in a freezer for too long. (Click on the video above to watch the full press conference.)
“It was maintained at a freezing temperature longer than the recommended period, which can lead to a reduced level of protection against Covid-19,” Elicker said.
In a Friday evening email press release, the city urged everyone who received a Pfizer vaccine dose at that location during that period of time to get an additional dose.
“After consulting with Pfizer and the Connecticut Department of Public Health it was recommended that those who received the improperly stored Pfizer vaccine or booster get re-vaccinated as soon as they can,” Bond is quoted as saying in that press release.
Bond told reporters on Friday afternoon that she first found out about the problem Tuesday. That’s when a staffer brought the discovery to her attention. She then reached out to the state health department and Pfizer for guidance.
The mayor, meanwhile, didn’t find out about the problem until Friday afternoon, according to a city spokesperson and the mayor. That was when the city health department heard back from Pfizer that the vaccine doses may be less effective because of their too-long storage in the freezer.
Elicker stressed during Friday’s press conference that there is no evidence that any of the potentially less-effective vaccine doses that were administered during this 46-day period will harm those who received them.
“This is just about the efficacy of the vaccine dose,” he said.
“In other words, the shot won’t hurt you. It’s just a question of whether or not it’s doing its job.”
Starting on Saturday, the city plans to start contacting all 650 people (who are 12 years and up) through addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses on file to recommend that they get a new shot.
About three-quarters of those people received a booster shot in that time between Dec. 23 and Feb. 7. The rest received first or second doses.
This problem — which Elicker called a “temperature excursion” — has occurred elsewhere in the U.S., and never has led to a person suffering health problems as a result, Elicker said.
Health Director Bond: A "discrepancy" was found.
This problem does not affect any other shots given at any other locations, Bond said. And “there has been no harm to the community.”
Repeatedly asked how the mess-up occurred and how the city found out that something was wrong, Elicker and Bond offered vague responses. They said it stemmed from a change in personnel.
Asked how she first learned about the problem, Bond said her deputy director “was just doing an analysis of the department, just getting everything ramped up for the transition period, and brought the issue to my attention.”
What does “transition period” mean?
“A transition period of personnel.”
So someone is taking over someone else’s job?
Bond said that “in the very near future” someone new will be helming the city’s 54 Meadow St. clinic.
Asked if the job she was alluding to was the city’s director of public health nursing position, Bond said, “I’m just talking about the general clinic operations. I don’t want to point out any specific personnel in this matter.”
Elicker promised his administration will investigate what happened. “We’re going to be doing an investigation to ensure that there’s accountability if there was any impropriety by any employee,” he said. “But we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.”
He said that the state Department of Public Health, at the city’s request, will “review” the city’s policies and procedures around storing vaccine doses.
The presser came several weeks after Elicker administration fired its director of nursing last month. It didn’t offer specifics on why at the time of the firing. On Friday, officials did not specify if that firing had anything to do with this problem.
Paul Bass contributed to this report.
Classic Friday afternoon dump of bad news. Bad news discovered Tuesday, announced Friday afternoon. Maybe Bond should spend less time running for SOTS and more time running the Health Dept.
https://politicaldictionary.com/words/friday-news-dump/