Dan Brigden

Sharing the following news article from the UK Guardian newspaper. 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/oct/11/sydney-gp-vaccine-storage-issue-holy-family-medical-dulwich-hill

"A letter from the practice to a parent whose child received a vaccine during this period seen by Guardian Australia states that “recently we worked with Sydney Local Health District Public Health Unit to review how we handle and store vaccines. This review showed that some vaccines given since December 2019 may not have been stored at the right temperatures”. [...]  “Some parts of the vaccine management didn’t follow the National Vaccination Storage Guidelines.""

Unfortunately, few details are provided but it is interesting to see vaccine supply chain and logistics in the mainstream media. Such vaccine storage challenges are rarely discussed, particularly in high-income countries. It would be interesting to know what storage shortcomings the review unearthed (VVM status?) and whether this was caused by a technical (cold chain equipment) or policy/HR issue. I would love to read the findings of an Effective Vaccine Management (EVM) assessment for this facility.  

It is of course commendable that the Medical Centre has taken action to identify and address the problem by notifing the patients and parents of those who received a vaccine that their protection could have been compromised and offering revaccination at no cost.