Over 1,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have to be thrown out because an ultracold freezer malfunctioned at a medical institution that was conducting priority inoculations, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has announced.
The freezer will be confiscated so that the cause of the problem can be investigated.
According to the ministry, a staffer at the medical institution discovered on Monday morning that the temperature of the ultracold freezer, set at about minus 80 C, had gone up to 27 C. Enough vaccine for 1,032 doses was stored in the freezer at the time.
Data checks showed that the temperature began rising at about 11:00 p.m. on Friday. No staff were there to check the temperature over the weekend, delaying the discovery of the problem.
Enough vaccine for 1,170 doses had been delivered to the institution during the week starting Feb. 15, and it had subsequently started inoculations. All 1,032 unused doses will be discarded.
The ministry said that as of 9:00 p.m. Monday, there had been no other reports of freezer malfunctions among the 100 freezers installed at facilities where priority inoculations are in progress.
"We will investigate the causes and quickly take necessary measures," a ministry official said.
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