Undated (Indiana’s NewsCenter) - An investigation discovered frozen and expired childhood vaccine doses in the offices of doctors and clinics.
A new disturbing government report obtained exclusively by ABC shows children everywhere may be crying for nothing.
The Centers for Disease Control turned the microscope on itself and was shocked when the Health and Human Services inspector general found severe storage violations in the federal vaccine program.
Some of the findings were ice on flu shots, which shouldn't be frozen and doses that had expired.
HHS Regional Inspector General Dwayne Grant said, “We found three of four providers were storing vaccines in temperatures that were either too hot or too cold.”
Out of the 45 doctors' offices and clinics inspected 75 percent were storing vaccines improperly.
Even though poorly stored vaccines are not deadly or harmful, they can become ineffective. This can leave children exposed to the diseases these drugs are designed to protect them against.
“I think doctors need to be taken out to the woodshed on this,” Dr. Richard Besser said. “Doctors need to look in their offices and say how are my nurses doing this and are our vaccines safe?”
The CDC is vowing to improve the system with retraining and more oversight.
Dr. Anne Schuchat, who works for the CDC National Center for Immunization and Respiratory, gives a possible reason as to why this issue occurred.
“There have been changes in the equipment and refrigerators,” Schuchat said. “There are many vaccines recommended now and that maybe there are more doses being stored in the average office than there used to be.”
Besser said it's crucial for children to still get their shots. He recommends asking the child’s pediatrician direct questions about how they store their vaccines.
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