KWCH - Kansas News and Weather - Hundreds of Regular Flu Vaccine Doses Lost

Hundreds of Regular Flu Vaccine Doses Lost

by Michael Schwanke (WICHITA, Kan.)

There's already a shortage, and now a Kansas health department is dealing with the loss of hundreds of doses of the regular flu vaccine.

The Harvey County Health Department says refrigeration failed over the weekend, so did the warning system that alerts staff of temperature changes.

Early estimates are that about 500 doses where lost.

"No time is a good time to lose vaccine, but we're sure there's nothing we could have done different. We take pride in watching our refrigeration and watching it on a daily basis, including on weekends," says Rita Flickinger with the Harvey County Health Department.

The vaccines vary in price. The health department says the loss will be covered by insurance.

It says a new refrigeration unit had been ordered and should be here this week. Alert systems will also be replaced. We're told the unit that failed was inspected about a week ago.

The H1N1 vaccine was not affected.

Written statement from Harvey County:

This past weekend one of the Harvey County Health Department's refrigerators failed, leading to the loss of seasonal flu vaccine.
The loss will not hinder the department's efforts to distribute flu vaccines. All of the lost vaccine will be replaced. Much of the vaccine stored in that unit had been moved to a second unit prior to the failure.
The department had also ordered a new refrigeration unit prior to this equipment failure, it is slated for delivery this week. Each refrigeration unit contains fail safes, including an automated system which calls department staff via phone to warn of temperature fluctuations by the refrigerator units. This system also failed during the weekend and is being replaced.
While this is a poor time to lose flu vaccine due to equipment failures, and there is a financial loss associated with the loss, the department will be able to respond to the increased demand for flu vaccine - both seasonal flu and H1N1 flu vaccines. The financial loss will be buffered by insurance, and the loss of seasonal flu vaccine will not create a problem in getting county residents vaccinated before the end of the tradional flu vaccination season which is now through the end of November. It is important to note as well there was no loss of H1N1 vaccine, and planning for county-wide clinics for distribution of H1N1 vaccines is ongoing.