RUHS reports over 300 people received Pfizer vaccine doses frozen longer than recommended at Jurupa Valley & Riverside clinics

Riverside University Health System (RUHS) reported that 324 people received Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses at Jurupa Valley & Riverside Clinics that were stored in the freezer longer than manufacturer recommendation.

Staff discovered the issue on November 23 and immediately reviewed their logs and found that the vaccines had been administered to patients at the CHC sites located in Jurupa Valley between October 8th – November 23rd and Riverside Neighborhood between October 23rd – November 23rd, according to RUHS.

RUHS staff are actively reaching out to the impacted patients directly starting on Wednesday. Officials say they are implementing measures to prevent this from happening again.  

"Even though these vaccines may have had improper storage from freezer to refrigeration to administration, they do not pose a danger to patients, but may have lost their potency which may impact the vaccine ability to protect against COVID-19," reads an RUHS announcement.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that patients get a repeat dose as soon as possible.

RUHS confirms that if you received a Pfizer vaccine at one of these two locations and you are not contacted by CHC staff, you are not impacted by this storage issue.

For those who received the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at either Riverside Neighborhood Clinic 7140 Indiana Avenue Riverside, CA or Jurupa Valley (CHC) 8876 Mission Blvd Jurupa Valley, CA during this time frame and are not contacted by CHC staff by Thursday, November 25th, you may call the after-hours line established for the holiday at 951-782-2976 between the hours of 8 a.m. through 5:00 p.m.

For all calls after the Thanksgiving holiday, please contact 800-945-6171 Monday – Friday between the hours of 8:30 a.m. through 5pm.