Storm-related power outages force family doctors to discard vaccines
Recent storm-caused power outages left several family doctors' practices unable to keep refrigerated vaccines at the required temperature, forcing them to dispose of the doses. Doctors admit their practices are not adequately prepared for such crisis situations.
Following a recent storm that caused power outages in several parts of Latvia, family doctors' practices ran into problems storing medicines and vaccines. Vaccines are normally kept in refrigerators at a specific temperature, and prolonged loss of electricity rendered some doses unusable.
Vaccines had to be destroyed
Several family doctors' practices were forced to dispose of vaccines that were in refrigerators during the power outage, since the required storage temperature could no longer be guaranteed.
Practices unprepared for crisis situations
Family doctors acknowledge that their practices are generally not well prepared for unexpected situations involving extended power loss. The incident highlights the need for solutions to protect medicine and vaccine stocks from similar weather-related disruptions in the future.
