An independent review commissioned by the Southern District Health Board (SDHB) into the cold chain failure in the Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes areas has found the unaccredited vaccine provider, who kept the vaccines in a vaccine refrigerator at their home, breached fridge temperature monitoring.

The report by the Designated Auditing Agency (DAA) Group focused on the systems and processes around the cold chain failure which meant more than 1,500 people received doses of the Covid-19 vaccine which had been stored at the wrong temperatures, making it ineffective.

There is no risk of harm to individuals that received a vaccine stored at an incorrect temperature.

The provider, Engage Safety Limited (ESL) is a private occupational health provider which provides a range of services to the Central Otago community including 10 years administering workplace influenza vaccinations. 

ESL gained a contract with the SDHB in August 2021 to administer Covid-19 vaccinations. ESL’s cold chain accreditation expired just three months later, but, as DAA said, “the Covid-19 pandemic was dominating the health system” and attempts to arrange renewal of the provider’s accreditation were unsuccessful so the immunisation coordinator and ESL agreed to delay renewal until later that month.

The SDHB became aware of a potentially significant cold chain breach on March 2 after an accreditation visit.

“It was then discovered that there were discrepancies with the fridge temperature monitoring over the previous two months. The ESL (lead) director appeared unaware that these breaches had occurred,” DAA said.

The report said “...freeze/thaw cycles, affected batches of vaccine were identified from data held by SDHB”. 

SDHB chief executive Chris Fleming said the health board, its Covid-19 vaccination programme team and ESL were working towards implementing the recommendations outlined in DAA’s report.

At the time of the breach there were 10 providers in the SDHB working towards Cold Chain Accreditation or Compliance. There are now no providers outstanding. 

People affected by the vaccine storage issue are encouraged to receive a replacement vaccination to ensure they benefit from a high level of immunity against Covid-19. 

As of Wednesday (June 8), the SDHB was still attempting to contact 112 of the 1,576 people affected by the cold chain failure. 

The SDHB asked people who have not been contacted and who received their Covid-19 vaccination between December 1, 2021 and January 28, 2022 in Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes, at locations other than pharmacies or GPs, to call 0800 28 29 26 to check the status of their vaccination. 

People who received their vaccination at a pharmacy or GP are not affected.   

Chris said he wanted to reassure Southern communities this was “an isolated incident”.

“Vaccination providers across Southern have done a fantastic job, and continue to do a fantastic job, vaccinating and protecting our whānau and loved ones. Southern would not have been able to get to a double vaccination rate of 97.5 percent and a booster rate of 74.7 percent if it were not for their dedication and hard work.” 

He said the SDHB acknowledged the years of dedicated vaccination and health care service carried out within the Queenstown Lakes district by ESL.

“The cold chain failure was an unfortunate occurrence and the SDHB has full confidence that this event will only improve the quality of care that they provide their community every day,” he said.

Anyone with questions about their vaccine should call 0800 28 29 26 (seven days a week, 8am to 8pm) for more information.