Covid-19: Pfizer vaccine delivery left unrefrigerated and spoilt

The doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine were delivered to Stratford-upon-Avon Hospital but not put in a fridge

A thousand doses of Pfizer vaccine have been thrown away because the parcel was left out of a fridge.

The batch was delivered to Stratford Hospital, Warwickshire, on Tuesday and signed for.

But the parcel, which cost £12,000, was left unrefrigerated for two-and-a-half hours and a health spokesman said it "spoilt".

He said no patient missed their vaccination as extra supplies came from a neighbouring NHS trust.

A source told the BBC it was a disaster with vaccines supplies limited and people desperate for vaccine in parts of the region.

Extra supplies were sourced from another hospital so patients could still be vaccinated at Stratford-upon-Avon Hospital

The vaccine delivery was signed for, left in a room and only discovered later.

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has to be stored at around -70C and when thawed used within two hours.

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Dr David Spraggett, chair of South Warwickshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said: "There is an investigation into how the vaccine was spoilt.

"Patients were vaccinated on the day because we were able to seek "mutual aid" from University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire who had extra supplies. No patients have missed their vaccine.

"The vaccine should be signed for by a clinician and put straight into a fridge which is locked and only a few people have the keys. The investigation will try to determine why that did not happen."  

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