Extra COVID-19 shots pose quandary for vaccination sites

While the nation’s supply of COVID-19 vaccine is limited, hospitals and pharmacies sometimes are left with a surplus when people miss immunization appointments, freezers malfunction, or vials contain more doses than normal. Given the cold-storage requirements and limited shelf life, however, already-thawed doses must be discarded if people cannot be found quickly to take them. A directive from HHS this week for all Americans aged 65 years and older or with medical comorbidities to start getting vaccinating will give administration sites a bigger pool of potential recipients when doses are in danger of expiring. Pharmacists for Giant Food in Washington, DC, for example, are giving extra doses to store associates first before offering them to older people, followed by anyone older than age 18 years. Still, even with takers on standby, hospitals and pharmacies cannot take advantage of the extra product if, for example, a vial that mistakenly includes seven doses only includes enough syringes and needles for the five doses it is supposed to contain.