Reported by: Laurie Monteforte
NBC
A school district in Pennsylvania had to toss 5,000 doses of Swine Flu vaccine.
The Stroudsburg Area School District was holding the doses for clinics later this week.
People like Madeline Redesky couldn't believe the news. She recalled, "I said 'oops -- somebody made a big mistake.”
The State Department of Health delivered the vaccine to Stroudsburg High School on Friday with instructions to keep it between 35 and 46 degrees.
District Superintendent John Toleno said the school nurse put the vaccine in a refrigerator with a special thermometer.
Everything seemed fine, until the next day. Toleno explained,
"When my Director of Maintenance came in on Saturday morning he realized that the temperature dipped just right around 30 degrees."
That means the vaccines got too cold to use.
The Superintendent said no people are to blame here - it was simply a mechanical error in the refrigerator.
He added, "It's unfortunate. And it's embarrassing for the district. We were hoping to get this out as a community service for our students and we're still hoping to provide that service."
Other area school districts will receive their vaccines soon.
Toleno hopes they will have some left over that they can send to Stroudsburg.
He said, "It's one of those things we have to deal with and then try to move on."
The State Department of Health called the incident "unfortunate."
A spokesperson said the department will not take any action against the school district.
It will try to help find replacement vaccines.
