The immunization clinic at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, pictured here in January 2022, reopened this week after an investigation into ineffective vaccines. (Anna Nolte/U.S. Air Force)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — The immunization clinic at Kadena Air Base reopened this week after an investigation into ineffective vaccines administered May 3 through July 29.
The 18th Medical Group Immunizations Clinic resumed operations Tuesday following a Defense Health Agency inspection “addressing the causes of the improper storage of the measles, mumps and rubella and varicella vaccines,” according to a Monday post on the medical group’s Facebook page.
Following the investigation, the clinic contacted an unspecified number of patients and recommended they be revaccinated to ensure they are protected from MMR and varicella, 1st Lt. Robert Dabbs, spokesman for Kadena’s 18th Wing, told Stars and Stripes by email Monday.
Dabbs said all affected patients have been called “and the majority were successfully contacted by phone.” Patients were also sent notifications through the online portal MHS Genesis.
The inspection found that after the clinic’s primary and back-up vaccine freezers failed, “staff who were unfamiliar with vaccine storage protocols [moved] the vaccines into a third freezer that was too cold,” Dabbs said.
During the 12 days the clinic was closed, the clinical team notified and cared for the affected patients and trained on vaccine storage and safety practices, according to the medical group’s post.
The clinic also implemented an “augmented internal and external inspection program” to prevent future occurrences and “assure that best practices are followed,” according to the post.
DHA immunizations experts will inspect the clinic’s storage and clinical programs “on a quarterly basis at the request of the medical group leadership” for one year, Dabbs said. Clinic personnel will also conduct monthly internal inspections.
“The clinical team has conducted additional training on vaccine storage and safety practices to ensure the highest standard of safe, quality care,” he said.
Anyone who received the MMR or varicella immunization at the clinic between May 3 and July 29 and has not heard from the clinic should call the 18th Medical Group Patient Advocate at DSN 315-630-4146 or 098-960-4146, Dabbs said.
In January, the Kadena clinic gave incorrect vaccines to four pediatric patients, according to a post on the medical group’s Facebook page. The post did not say which vaccines were incorrectly administered or whether any of the affected children had adverse reactions.
