Soka University Vaccines 'Okay To Use,' County Says

ALISO VIEJO, CA — As many as 6,000 doses of Pfizer coronavirus vaccine were potentially spoiled after a refrigeration failure overnight at the Soka University Super Point of Dispensing site, officials said Wednesday.

"We don't have an exact number yet," Orange County CEO Frank Kim said.

On Thursday, those vaccines were determined as safe to use, according to the county.

The Pfizer vaccine requires a special deep freezer and then is transferred to a refrigerator to begin the thawing process. Then, the vaccine is mixed and allowed to fully thaw at room temperature before inoculations can begin. Before use, the Pfizer vaccine must be used within six hours of being thawed to room temperature. According to the county, the pharmacists who arrived at work at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday to begin the process of preparing the vaccines noticed the refrigerator had malfunctioned, Kim said.

Orange County Health Care is working with the super POD site and the manufacturer to determine if the vaccines are viable.

Kim said the doses were "potentially spoiled" and that none of the vaccines were used. Other doses were brought in so appointments made for Wednesday would not be canceled.

According to the county, no Wednesday appointments were affected, although multiple delays were experienced by those arriving for their 8 a.m. vaccination appointments, Patch has learned.

City News Service contributed to this report.