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Seattle hospitals rush out vaccines after freezer failure

Virus Outbreak Washington Vaccine
Posted at 9:43 PM, Jan 29, 2021
and last updated 2021-01-29 22:43:40-05

Seattle hospitals rushed out COVID-19 vaccines to hundreds of people in the middle of the night after a freezer they were being stored in failed.

The Seattle Times reports that it's not clear what caused the freezer failure Thursday night, but the UW Medical Center's Northwest and Montlake campuses and Swedish Medical Center received hundreds of doses that needed to be used before they spoiled at 5:30 a.m. Friday.

Word of the unexpected doses spread on social media, and a line of hopeful vaccine recipients snaked out the clinic door and through a parking lot at UW Medical Center-Northwest. Cassie Sauer, president of the Washington State Hospital Association, says no doses were wasted.

Swedish Medical Center put out an urgent call at 11 p.m. local time in hopes of finding people willing to get vaccinated.

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