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City officials asked 650 individuals to get re-vaccinated against COVID-19 after a New Haven clinic improperly stored doses.

In a press conference earlier this month, Mayor Justin Elicker revealed that the city health department administered faulty Pfizer doses after they had been kept in freezers for over six weeks — far longer than the two-week period recommended. From Dec. 23, 2021 to Feb. 7, 2022, individuals received the improperly stored vaccines at the New Haven Health Department clinic. According to Elicker and Director of Public Health Maritza Bond, the 650 individuals will not experience detrimental health effects because of the faulty vaccines, but the doses may not be effective in preventing the virus. As of Friday, only 19 of the hundreds of individuals have returned to the clinic to be vaccinated again.

“After consulting with Pfizer and the Connecticut Department of Public Health it was recommended that those who received the improperly stored Pfizer vaccine or booster get re-vaccinated as soon as they can,” Bond said in a press release.

Regardless of the storage mistake, Bond noted that none of the people who received the faulty vaccines have reported positive PCR tests. Sixty-one percent of the affected people have been successfully contacted by the city health department and encouraged to return for re-vaccination. Bond claimed that, of those reached, 95 percent “did not have medical concerns” about the vaccines they received. Community Services Administrator Mehul Dalal added that calls and letters sent to affected individuals encouraged them to contact their primary care physicians with any questions or concerns. 

During the Feb. 11 press conference, Bond said that a staff member discovered the storage mistake as the clinic prepared for a change in personnel. Elicker attributed the mistake to a “communication lapse” in a later Feb. 17 press conference, adding that the vaccines were meant to be transferred to refrigerators at some point. 2,900 vaccine doses in total were improperly stored.

Bond clarified that the majority of faulty doses received were booster shots and that Pfizer advised that it was safe for affected individuals to receive another dose. She also stressed that the incident only occurred at one clinic and that she immediately took action after she learned about the error.

“This did not impact our external [vaccine] partners, this was not part of our many pop-up vaccination clinics,” Bond said. “This was exclusively just doing a ramp-up of the transition in process.”

An independent firm is currently investigating the error, according to Elicker, and report findings will be released to the public sometime this week. The mayor said that he was reluctant to share more specific information on the alleged miscommunication between clinic personnel while more details come to light but that those responsible will be held accountable.

“While it’s tempting to jump to conclusions and want to say that ‘this person did this’ or ‘that person did that,’ we want to just be cautious that we do things properly,” Elicker said.

Pfizer’s vaccine storage and information summary sheet states that vaccines can be stored in the freezer for up to two weeks, while they can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a month. The CDC gives vaccine providers beyond-use date labels to keep track of storage time periods, and Pfizer instructs providers to carefully track dates. Elicker referred to the extended storage period as a “temperature excursion” and noted that this has occurred in numerous cities throughout the country.

After Bond and the health department discovered the problem on Tuesday, Feb. 8, they did not inform Elicker until Friday, explaining that they wanted to take time to investigate and contact Pfizer and the state help department for guidance. Although Elicker said that he would have liked to know about the incident as soon as possible, he did not condemn Bond for the late communication. 

“There’s always a balance between what to bring to my attention and not,” Elicker said. “I can’t know everything at once, but it’s safe to know that I like to know things quickly.”

Others took issue with the late communication, raising the issue of distrust amid the pandemic. The New Haven Clergy Alliance held its own Zoom press conference on the matter on Feb 17, where Rev. Boise Kimber, who has worked with Elicker in the past to open up city vaccine clinics, criticized the administration’s lack of transparency and alleged that it was a cause of vaccine hesitancy. 

The city health department did not answer the News’ request for an updated statistic on how many individuals have returned to be re-vaccinated.

The impacted vaccine clinic is located at 54 Meadow St.