A refrigerator on the blink at the San Diego VA hospital in La Jolla has resulted in up to 1,540 veterans and employees receiving flu shots that are now considered potentially ineffective.

In response to questions from the San Diego Union-Tribune, a U.S. Veterans Affairs Department spokeswoman said late Tuesday that workers discovered a temperature failure during an Oct. 13 inspection.

A pharmacy refrigerator rose above the correct temperature range, and the stored flu vaccine did not stay within the recommended range of 36 to 46 degrees, said spokeswoman Cindy Butler, in a written statement to the U-T.

There are potentially 1,300 veterans and 240 VA employees who may have received the compromised vaccine, she said.


All veterans and staff will be notified to come back to get another flu vaccination.

“The product is now considered to be potentially ineffective, but there would be no negative side effects,” Butler said.

A county spokesman said the VA, a federal agency, isn’t required to report the incident to the county’s public health department, so he didn’t have any further information.

Butler said no other medications were stored in that refrigerator unit.


The San Diego VA has modified its processes in response to the incident, Butler said.

A Centers for Disease Control guideline for handling vaccines says errors like this, which require repeat doses, can result in a loss of patient confidence.

“It is better to not vaccinate than to administer a dose of vaccine that has been mishandled,” the CDC guidelines say.


jen.steele@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @jensteeley