Thomas Breen photo
Mayor Elicker (right) with Health Director Bond and social services director Dalal on Thursday.
Only 19 out of 625 people who received mishandled Covid-19 vaccines from New Haven’s health department have returned to the city’s clinic for do-over shots so far, city officials reported Thursday afternoon as they defended their handling of the screw-up.
The update, explanation, and defense took place at a press conference held by the entrance to the city health department at 54 Meadow St.
Mayor Justin Elicker, Health Director Maritza Bond and Community Services Administrator Mehul Dalal conducted the press briefing six days after they revealed, in a late Friday afternoon presser, that the health department had mishandled 656 doses of the Pfizer vaccine over a 46-day period. (Click on the video above to watch Thursday’s press conference in full.)
The affected doses were stored in a Health Department freezer for longer than they should have been.
They were subsequently administered to 625 different individuals between Dec. 23 and Feb. 7 at the city’s 54 Meadow St. clinic.
Because of the too-long stay in the freezer, the vaccine doses suffered from a “temperature excursion” — that is, they were too cold for too long, and were therefore rendered potentially less effective at warding off Covid-19.
After consulting with Pfizer and the state Department of Public Health, the city has been urging people since Saturday to come back for do-over shots.
Through phone calls and emails, the department has succeeded so far in connecting with only 61 percent of the 625 individuals, according to Bond. Outreach efforts will continue.
Of that group, only 19 have returned to 54 Meadow St. this week for do-over shots. Elicker noted that others may have gone to other locations to receive new shots.
“It’s hard for us to know,” he said. The city can definitively say that 19 people who received affected doses have come back to the health department clinic to get re-vaccinated. “But people could have gone to any number of other places.”
Bond reported as well that none of the 625 people is listed in the state health department database as having tested positive for Covid-19. That database covers PCR tests, but not home tests.
Asked how big of a concern this is, given that the health department has administered over 23,000 Covid-19 vaccinations over the course of the pandemic, Elicker replied, “I think it’s a big deal.
“I think it’s a big deal especially because there’s a group of people out there who are pushing conspiracies about vaccines. It is vital that people have confidence in our health system. I know our team is working very hard to keep our community safe. One incident like this can erode confidence. And my hope is that people see that we are committed to correcting this error. Frankly, I’m very grateful that no one got hurt. I think that our response needs to be strong, quick and decisive in order to show the public that we will correct these kinds of errors when they happen.”
He argued that the response has been all of that.
“We quickly responded and corrected course,” he claimed.
The mayor was asked if Bond should have informed him sooner about the discovery of the problem rather than wait three days.
At the press conference, he responded: “There’s always a balance between what to bring to my attention and not. I like to learn things as soon as possible. I encourage all of my staff to share things as soon as possible. I can’t know everything at once. It’s safe to say I like to know things quickly.”
He subsequently contacted the Independent to clarify: “I would have liked to have known earlier.”
Thomas Breen photo
At the press conference, Bond defended waiting three days to forward the information to the mayor.
She said a staff member had informed her a week ago Tuesday that a “temperature excursion” had taken place, meaning that some vaccines had been stored at the wrong temperature. She said she spent days collecting more facts to find out what happened.
Some, not all, of those details were provided at the press conference. After first learning about the problem from an unidentified staffer, Bond said, she conducted an internal review that found that a total of 2,900 Pfizer doses had been stored too long in a freezer instead of being transferred to a refrigerator.
Why? Which employee(s) were responsible?
The city has hired an outside firm to investigate those questions, Elicker reported. He said he’d like to wait to learn the full story before offering more public details.
“It’s tempting to jump to conclusions and want to say that this person did this or that person did that,” he noted. “We want to be very cautious that we do things properly. It is clear there was a lapse in communication, which meant that the vaccines were not transferred properly.”
Thursday’s press conference took place after a team from the state Department of Public Health conducted an on-site review of the city department’s protocols for handling and storing vaccines. Dalal said the review turned up no problems besides a circuit breaker that lacked a label saying, “Do not disconnect.” The state has promised to forward a written report on its findings next week. Dalal claimed the city will make the report promptly available to the public.
Rev. Kimber at Thursday Zoom presser.
Elicker convened the press conference six hours after the Rev. Boise Kimber held his own press conference on the subject, over Zoom.
Kimber, who spoke as part of the New Haven Clergy Alliance, argued that the city should not have waited three days to inform the public about the botched vaccinations.
“We do not believe that this mayor has been transparent with this community,” Kimber stated. “It becomes a trust issue with this administration. It becomes a transparence issue for this administration, informing the public three days later. When something of this magnitude happens to the citizens of this city, it should have been an all-out alarm.
“We do not trust what they have said in reference to this vaccine. … This is why so many individuals have been afraid to take the vaccine, based on incidents of this nature.”
He noted that people were “walking around” falsely believing they had protection against Covid-19, “not knowing whether or not they are a carrier or whether or not it is working.”
Kimber called on the city to explain how the mistake occurred and who’s responsible: “Do other people need to be fired? We need to get to the bottom of this. People’s lives are at stake now.“
And he urged people to get their vaccine shots at CVS, Walgreens, or other outlets not run by the city health department.
The mayor did not heed that advice.
“When it is time for boosters, my daughter and I will again receive vaccines from the New Haven Health Department,” Elicker stated Thursday.
Why does this charade have the feel of a political hit job to whack Maritza Bond, who is exploring a run for Secretary of State?