21 COVID-19 vaccine shipments damaged on the way to Michigan

(LANSING, Mich.) Twenty-one shipments of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine that were sent to Michigan on Sunday January 17th won't be administered. McKesson Corporation, which was transporting the vaccine doses told the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) that the 21 shipments of the vaccine got too cold while being transported. McKesson is investigating the cause and sending new shipments of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine to replace the doses that were damaged. The majority of the 21 replacement shipments were sent Monday night, with the rest being sent on Tuesday. McKesson discovered the issue because each shipment has a monitoring device that is able to check the temperature of the vaccine doses while they are being transported. "Although it is unfortunate that this vaccine will not be able to be used, we are pleased that the safeguards put into place to ensure the integrity of the vaccine worked," said Joneigh Khaldun, Michigan's Chief Medical Executive. "This is the first report of vaccine potentially being compromised during shipment in Michigan and we are working quickly with the distributor to have replacement vaccine shipped out." Six other shipments of the vaccine were also held back to to double check that there were no issues.