The Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced that it had discarded about 1600 doses because the storage temperature of the new coronavirus vaccine could not be properly controlled at the large-scale inoculation site in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building.
According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, what was discarded was the Moderna vaccine that was planned to be used for 30 days at the large-scale inoculation site set up by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in the "South Observatory".
On the morning of the 30th, when the pharmacist checked the temperature of the refrigerator that stored more than 2000 vaccines, it was 17 degrees or higher, which greatly exceeded the set 3 degrees.
According to the city, the vaccine will expire within 12 hours if the refrigerator temperature exceeds 9 degrees Celsius.
For this reason, the city proceeded with inoculation during the daytime on the 30th, before the expiration date, but the 1644 doses that had passed the expiration date were discarded.
The capital is investigating the cause of the temperature rise in the refrigerator.
At this venue, about 50,000 people, including school staff and people in charge of infection prevention measures at restaurants, are planning to inoculate twice, but the city has secured the vaccine for the reservation. Therefore, there is no future impact.
The city says, "I regret that a large amount of vaccine was discarded while the shortage of vaccines was pointed out. Even at night, security staff will check the temperature and try to prevent recurrence."