Investigation launched after 1,000 doses of Covid vaccine left unrefrigerated to spoil at hospital

Batch was signed for and then left in room

A nurse assistant prepares a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine (AP/Andre Penner)

An investigation has been launched after 1,000 doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine had to be thrown away because they were left out of a fridge for almost three hours.

The batch, worth £12,000, spoiled after being delivered to Stratford Hospital on Tuesday.

It was signed for at the facility but then dropped off in a room before clinicians discovered it some time later, according to the BBC.

The Pfizer/BioNTech jab must be stored at -70C long term but can be kept in a regular refrigerator in the days before use. Once thawed, however, it must be given within two hours to be effective.

Dr David Spraggett, chair of South Warwickshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said: "There is an investigation into how the vaccine was spoiled.

“Patients were vaccinated on the day because we were able to seek ‘mutual aid’ from University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire who had extra supplies. No patients have missed their vaccine.

"The vaccine should be signed for by a clinician and put straight into a fridge which is locked and only a few people have the keys. The investigation will try to determine why that did not happen."

It comes a a day after it was revealed that 450 doses of the inoculation also went to waste in South Yorkshire after a fridge at a vaccination centre was turned off.

Ninety vials of the jab had to be thrown away after the fridge was turned off overnight on 7 January at Montgomery Hall in Wath-upon-Dearne.

Officials with Rotherham Clinical Commissioning Group said no patients missed their jab appointment after supplies were redirected from another area.