Vaccine storage found to be less than cool

The Vaccines for Children program has been providing free vaccines to children in need for nearly two decades. Unfortunately, a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has found that a significant fraction of providers around the country have been irresponsible when it comes to storing these vaccines. The oversight matters, since, while such improperly stored vaccines are still safe, they may not be as effective. Since 1994, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has given grants to state and local health departments, which then distribute the vaccine funding to 44,000 doctors’ offices and clinics. Yet when inspectors from the DHHS visited 45 different medical practices in the five areas that ordered the most vaccines in 2010, they found that 76% of the providers had stored vaccines at the wrong temperature for at least five consecutive hours during a two-week period. They also found that 13...