Gloved hands in laboratory, handling research instruments

Leaders at five Ohio long-term and residential care facilities are working with Walgreens and state officials to re-administer COVID-19 vaccines to residents following a storage error caused by the pharmacy retailer. 

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) on Tuesday announced that some residents at the five facilities potentially received ineffective COVID-19 vaccine doses after Walgreens discovered some of the shots had not been stored under the proper cold storage temperatures. 

“The problem did not arise at the nursing home is my understanding. My understanding is this problem arose someplace else whenever they were getting the doses,” DeWine said. 

The impacted facilities are The Maples at Ashtabula County Residential Services Corporation in Kingsville; Ashtabula Towers in Ashtabula; Health Hill Care Communities in Chardon; Six Chimneys Apartments and the Willow Park Convalescent Home in Cleveland, OH. 

Twenty-four residents at The Maples, an intermediate care facility, received compromised doses, explained Joy Groel, director of Ashtabula County Residential Services. Groel told the Star Beacon the facility was contacted by Walgreens but did not have any information about when people would be revaccinated.

Walgreens in a statement to local media said initial vaccinations at the facilities were completed Monday and that through its internal controls process it later discovered that one lot of the vials containing the vaccine were subject to improper storage before being delivered to the facilities.

“There is no reason to believe any patients who received these doses will suffer any harm. Walgreens has been in contact with the manufacturer and while the viability and potential impact on the effectiveness of vaccines that have been improperly stored remains unknown, revaccination is recommended,” a company spokesman explained. 

“We will work with the facilities to revaccinate patients who inadvertently received doses from these vaccines to ensure full protection from vaccination in accordance with CDC guidance,” the spokesman said. The company said it’s also investigating and plans to review and correct its operating procedures to prevent the error from happening again. 

Clara Wukelich, risk manager for Foundations Health, the operator of Health Hill, told McKnight’s Long-Term Care News on Wednesday that the company was disappointed to learn that some of their residents and staff would need to get vaccinated again but understood that errors happen. She added that management was appreciative that Walgreens recognized the error, contacted them and took prompt action to correct the mistake. 

“We’re grateful for that and we’re moving forward,” Wukelich said.