Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo has revealed that 162 doses of the new coronavirus vaccine that had been stored became unusable due to temperature control and dilution mistakes, and were discarded.
According to Bunkyo Ward, on the 28th of last month, when the vaccine was transferred to the medical institution where the medical staff was inoculated, two vaccine containers and 10 doses were accidentally stored at the time of transfer. It was left behind, and when it was discovered, it exceeded the time it could be stored at room temperature, so it was discarded.
In addition, on the 10th of this month, when the vaccine was refrigerated to the medical institution at the mass inoculation site, it was accidentally re-frozen, and 28 containers and 140 doses were discarded.
Furthermore, on the 18th of this month, at the medical institution at the mass inoculation site, the staff in charge of dilution while preparing the vaccine mistakenly diluted the already diluted vaccine again, so 2 containers and 12 doses were discarded. This means that a total of 162 vaccines manufactured by Pfizer were discarded.
In response to this situation, the ward has thoroughly confirmed the handling method and reviewed the system. "We deeply apologize for the inconvenience and concern to all concerned parties. We will work to prevent recurrence so that such cases will not occur again. "