Stuck in a snowstorm, US healthcare workers give expiring COVID-19 vaccines to stranded drivers

The impromptu vaccination session amid a snowstorm is the latest example of healthcare workers scrambling to make use of leftover doses during a sometimes chaotic rollout that’s seen around 21.1 million people receive one or both doses of the vaccine in the United States.

Weber’s six leftover Moderna doses, which had already been transferred to syringes earlier on Tuesday, needed to be used quickly or discarded. Like the Pfizer version, the Moderna vaccine must be used within six hours after being removed from sub-zero storage and reaching room temperature.

“We knew the vaccine would not make it back to Grants Pass,” said Weber, 40. “In all likelihood, it was going to expire.“

After consulting with his team, Weber and four staff members trekked through the snow, knocking on car windows in search of six lucky arms.

One team member carried a bin with the vaccines, alcohol, gauze and other medical supplies. Weber, who was in charge of the vaccination paperwork, carried the forms inside his coat. Others carried a container for used needles and an umbrella for the heavy snow.

An ambulance that had accompanied them during a vaccination session at a high school earlier that day was also present and ready to treat anyone in the rare case they suffered an allergic reaction, Weber added.

But finding six people who wanted the shots wasn’t that easy, David Candelaria, a health officer with Josephine County Public Health, told The Post.

“We were a little nervous because not a lot of people in this part of the state are eager to get the vaccine at this point in time,” said Candelaria, 61.

The team went car-to-car and introduced themselves as county health officials stuck in the snowstorm, who, incidentally, had vaccine doses for a virus that has killed more than 427,000 Americans, including close to 2000 in Oregon.

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It took Weber and his team about 45 minutes to administer the six vaccine doses.

“We went through a lot of cars before we found six yeses,” Weber said.

While most people politely declined, Weber said, those who said yes could hardly contain their excitement.

“I can’t imagine a better way to spend four hours stuck in a snowstorm,” Weber said.

One man, Candelaria recalled, was so ecstatic that he got out of his car and took his shirt off in the middle of the snowstorm so the team could inoculate him. Another woman was so taken aback by the surprise vaccine that she could hardly sign the paperwork, her hands were trembling so much from excitement. The last person to get a leftover vaccination was a woman who didn’t make it on time to her appointment earlier that day.

“It was meant to be for her,” Candelaria said.

The Washington Post