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Tallahassee, Fla. — Today, the Florida Department of Health called for an audit of the Palm Beach County Health Care District after they reported damage to more than 1,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine last week. All vaccination providers participating in the COVID-19 Vaccination Program must store and handle COVID-19 vaccines under proper conditions to maintain the cold chain as outlined in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Vaccine Storage and Handling Toolkit. As a part of this audit, the Florida Department of Health is asking that the Palm Beach County Health Care District perform a full accounting of all vaccine-related equipment and procedures it has in place to store and handle the COVID-19 vaccine. The Department has requested that this audit be completed by the Health Care District by Friday, February 12, 2021, and that all findings and corrective actions be reported to the Florida Department of Health immediately upon the conclusion of the audit.

Florida State Surgeon General Dr. Scott Rivkees said, "It is a tragedy that even one dose of this critical resource would go to waste and not be used to save a life from COVID-19. In Florida, we have been diligent to preserve and utilize every single dose of the vaccine. While we must rely on partners to distribute this critical resource, we expect that every provider treat the vaccine as the precious commodity that it is. We hope to see this situation rectified and addressed immediately to ensure the Palm Beach County Health Care District does not let one more dose go to waste.”

About the Florida Department of Health

The department, nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board, works to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts.

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