Covid-19 vaccines are a precious item these days. And scarce, too, unfortunately. Not one dose should ever be wasted.
That’s the impetus behind this inspirational story from Oregon, where a snowstorm and subsequent accident shut down traffic on Tuesday. Inside the cluster of cars stuck going nowhere were several vehicles with an inoculation crew that had spent the day distributing vaccinations at various locations.
But they still had six vials leftover.
With a six-hour shelf life, the Moderna vaccines were precious cargo in danger of perishing.
So rather than letting the vaccine doses expire, Josephine County Public Health Director Michael Weber and 20 colleagues hopped out of their vehicles in the winter’s chill and walked along the traffic line, looking for people who wanted a shot.
“I decided to start going door-to-door, car-to-car, offering” the vaccine, Weber told The Washington Post.
The six Moderna doses already had been transferred to syringes earlier in the day.
And so Weber and his team braved the cold and knocked on windows looking for volunteers. An ambulance that was part of the travelling team was ready to treat anyone in case of an allergic reaction.
Unfortunately, there was a bit of skepticism despite their generous overtures. It took Weber and his team about 45 minutes to administer the six doses.
A woman who had missed her scheduled appointment that same day received the last dose. Understandably, she was thrilled.
“We went through a lot of cars before we found six yeses,” Weber said. “I can’t imagine a better way to spend four hours stuck in a snowstorm.”
