5K Vaccines May Be Ineffective Because of Improper Storage in Upstate CT

The effectiveness of 5,000 doses of vaccines given to more than 3,800 patients in Connecticut may have been reduced because of refrigeration problems and people may need revaccination, the Wethersfield-based Hartford HealthCare Medical Group announced Friday.

According to a report in The Republic, the medical group said employees in their Enfield office recently discovered the vaccine doses may have been stored at the wrong temperatures long enough to possibly make them ineffective.

The wrong temperatures were caused by mechanical problems with refrigerators in some cases and human error in others at the group's locations in Enfield, South Main Street in West Hartford, Storrs and the Unionville section of Farmington, according to the report.

The practice is contacting all of the patients, who received vaccines for the flu, pneumonia, tetanus, pertussis, the human papillomavirus and meningitis from Jan. 1, 2013 to the present, according to the report.

The medical group has set up a hotline for patients at 877-707-4442.

The full story can be found here.