ST JAMES, Jamaica — Staff members who were working at the vaccination site at Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) where a vial of COVID vaccines went missing yesterday, have been reassigned.

These staff members would have been part of the chain of custody for the vaccines that went missing, Regional Director of the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA) Errol Greene told Nationwide News this evening.

Greene said “about four or five people” were reassigned, including doctors and public health nurses.

He said that the vaccines were discovered missing late yesterday evening into last night.

He said the investigators have confiscated all the CCTV tapes close by, and will be analysing them.

The regional director said he does not know, and is not prepared to say the vaccines were stolen; his information is that they can’t be accounted for, and couldn’t be found.

CRH is one of several sites where the vaccine is administered. Greene said there is a chain of custody that includes thorough checking from removal of the vaccines from the storage site to where the vaccines are administered.

One vial contains 10 vaccine doses. All other vials have been accounted for after an inventory check was done, Greene said.

Greene said the team picked up the discrepancy at the end of the day, at the site where 16 vials were delivered at 7:55 am Monday.

He said the authorities do checks during the course of the day, as the empty vials are stored to ensure that every single vial is accounted for.

At the end of the day it was discovered that of the 16 vials, they couldn’t account for one.

He said this is the first such instance in the WRHA.

Two sets of auditors — from the Ministry of Health, and from the WHRA — are investigating.

A preliminary report has been received, as well as an incident report, Greene said.