Interior Health reports some residents given 'invalid' COVID-19 vaccine
By Lone Sheep Publishing
Interior Health said in a media release Tuesday that it recently discovered doses of COVID-19 vaccine stored in an incorrect freezer and now considers the doses invalid.
The result is hundreds of residents in the Revelstoke area are now being offered an additional shot of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Receiving an invalid dose of vaccine does not pose risk to the client and fortunately none of these individuals have contracted COIVD-19 since their immunization,” the Interior Health media release said.
Interior Health said the vaccine had been administered as 15 first doses and 501 second doses in the community and although it may have provided some protection from COVID-19, staff is contacting each client individually to offer another dose.
Interior Health would like to assure everyone the COVID-19 vaccine is a safe and effective way to protect yourself and loved ones from this challenging pandemic.
“While unfortunate, this situation demonstrates our monitoring and surveillance systems are working,” Interior Health said.
“Additional precautions have been implemented to prevent this from occurring in the future.”
“We apologize for any concern or frustration this may cause and encourage everyone impacted to re-book their immunization once contacted by Interior Health.”
The Interior Health region has been overwhelmed with COVID-19 transmissions since late July, due to the highly contagious Delta variant.
The increase in COVID-19 cases in the BC Interior prompted the provincial health office to reinstate many restrictions, first for the Central Okanagan, and last week for the entire Interior Health Region.
Monday, the health officials announced province-wide vaccine passport system before reinstating an indoor mask mandate Tuesday.
Over the weekend, BC reported more than 1,700 new COVID-19 cases with 768 during the three-day period in Interior Health.
