NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The City of New Haven is advising more than 600 people to get revaccinated against COVID-19 after some doses of the Pfizer vaccine administer at the city’s health department were improperly refrigerated.
“There’s a specific recommendation on how long it needs to be frozen at a certain temperature and then when it needs to be brought into a refrigeration and that timeline was not exactly followed,” said Mayor Justin Elicker.
The issue only affected people who got a Pfizer vaccine or booster at the city’s health department clinic, located at 54 Meadow St., from December 23 – February 7.
The mayor said that’s about 625 people, according to an updated count.
“Some of the individuals got the first and second dose in that time period. Around 500 of the individuals were receiving their booster shot,” said Mayor Justin Elicker. “Our Health Department team called all the individuals that were in this category.”
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Health officials said the temperature issue can reduce the effectiveness of the vaccine, so the city is now recommending that anyone who got the improperly stored Pfizer vaccine or booster get revaccinated as soon as they can.
“The health department immediately reached out to the Department of Public Health and Pfizer when they identified the situation to get guidance on what they should be doing,” said Mayor Elicker.
Health officials also stressed there is no evidence the improperly stored doses caused any medical harm.
RELATED: New Haven reports hundreds of Pfizer vaccine doses improperly stored, may impact vaccine efficacy
“I just want to make sure folks are aware that there are no safety issues here but there are efficacy issues so that’s why please follow DPH or CDC guidance on this issue and talk to your primary care doctor,” said Dr. Syed Hussain with Trinity Health of New England.
The city is now reviewing its policies and procedures of vaccine storage after the issue was discovered last week during a vaccine inventory.
“We’re doing a investigation into what happened to make sure this never happens again. I’m meeting with the folks from DPH later today to discuss,” said Mayor Elicker.
Angelo Bavaro is an anchor and reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at abavaro@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
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