Over 500 people in B.C.'s Interior need to retake their vaccine because of improper storage

Over 500 people will have to get their COVID-19 vaccine redone inRevelstoke, B.C., after health workers discovered that the doses of vaccine they were administered were stored in an incorrect freezer, said Interior Health.

The doses were stored at20 Cas opposed to80 C, saidDr.Carol Fenton, a medical health officer with Interior Health.

The improperly stored vaccine was used as 15 first doses and 501 second doses.People who received these shotsare being individually contacted by Interior Health and they are being offered another dose.

Interior Health saysthere is norisk in receiving an invalid dose of vaccine.

"It may be that it is perfectly fine," said Dr. Fenton. "But [we]can't guarantee the effectiveness so just to be sure, we're offering new doses."

B.C.'s Interior region is a COVID-19 hotspot, andhealth officials have reintroducedpublic health measures like shutting nightclubs, limiting restaurant dining, restricting the size of social gatheringsand reimposing a mask mandate in an attempt to curb the spread of the delta variant.

None of the individuals who got the incorrect dose has contracted COVID-19 since their immunization, says Interior Health.

Dr.Fenton says the discrepancy was found during a routine quality control check. She says efforts are being made to make sure itdoesn't happen again.

"We have great staff who are reviewing this all the time," she said. "We have redoubled our efforts to make sure everyone knows the correct storage requirements for the vaccine to minimize the chance of this error again."