Somerset Covid-19 jabs cancelled after fridge malfunction

Patients have been offered new appointments and are advised to rebook for their second jab within 12 weeks of their first

More than 1,000 people have had their Covid-19 vaccine appointments cancelled because of a vaccine storage issue.

Patients were asked to rebook as a precautionary measure after an error was found in the temperature readings of a vaccine fridge on Thursday.

An extra clinic has been arranged at Dillington House, Somerset for people whose appointments were cancelled.

Officials reviewed the temperature records and said they were confident the vaccines could still be used.

The issue affected 1,117 appointments.

A spokeswoman for the clinic said: "The clinics were postponed as a precautionary measure as patient safety is of the utmost importance.

"We would encourage anyone affected by the postponement yesterday to use the booking link they have been sent to reschedule their appointment for tomorrow if they are able to do so."

'Alarm triggered'

Vaccines have to be stored at the correct temperature to ensure that they will work properly.

A Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group spokesperson said all vaccine fridges were "closely monitored".

They said: "We can confirm that an error was found on the temperature reading of the vaccine fridge yesterday morning at 8am, which resulted in an alarm being triggered.

"It's extremely important that vaccines are stored at the correct temperature to ensure that they will work properly."