Did CDC exonerate Shelby County?
Answer complicated by heated political dialogue
Shelby County Health Officer Bruce Randolph claimed Thursday a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigation into the county’s handling of vaccines “exonerates us.”
Randolph’s statement came at a news conference Thursday and amounted to a wholehearted defense of the embattled health department, which had three executives resign or retire and was investigated by multiple federal and state agencies.
That claim from Randolph Thursday prompted more back-and-forth between Shelby County and the state of Tennessee. The heated dialogue reflected the political tension between the Republican-led state government and the state’s largest county, which tilts Democratic.
Shelby County and Memphis politicians have opined the state’s scrutiny of Shelby County’s vaccine issues has exceeded the severity of the problem and those politicians have noted the state has spent less time focusing on wasted doses in Mursfreesboro and Knoxville.
But the question remains: Did the state of Tennessee and CDC’S findings after a weeks-long investigation exonerate Shelby County? Yes and no.
The conclusion of the CDC and state’s investigation answered the most pressing question leftover in the Shelby County vaccine scandal — no one was given a vaccine dose stored at an improper temperature.
Officials said they were confident no one needed to be revaccinated and thousands of people are protected by the COVID-19 vaccines they received under the health department’s watch.
However, the CDC said its investigation was narrow in scope.
“It does not cover topics such as inventory management, appointment scheduling, vaccine expiration or wastage, broader vaccine (incl. VFC) program findings at SCHD, SCHD organizational or management practices
or engagement with City of Memphis,” according to the report.
Tennessee Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey said she was relieved no one would have to be revaccinated but said serious issues occurred in Shelby County.
“Involvement of multiple federal agencies, including the CDC and (U.S. Food and Drug Administration), speaks to the seriousness of the situation — from inventory mismanagement and wasted doses to disorganized and insufficient record-keeping. No other county in the state has warranted CDC intervention to analyze whether over 50,000 doses were handled properly. Shelby County residents deserve the benefit of a solid improvement plan for vaccine services moving forward, not a defense of the status quo,” she said Thursday.
On Thursday, Randolph didn’t mention were the 2,510 wasted vaccine doses that first prompted the investigations. Nor did Randolph mention the weeks state and CDC officials spent verifying how the vaccines were stored, a process made more complicated by what the state described as insufficient record-keeping.
“Almost all of the issues were the primary root cause of not having proper documentation and not having an SOP or standard operating procedure,” Piercey said earlier this week.
Randolph also did not mention that the health department took more than two weeks to disclose the first wasted doses to the public.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris said he doesn’t think it’s helpful to continue looking backward and doing so only contributes to ongoing vaccine skepticism.
“I think the CDC, when they reported their results to me, they were pretty satisfied, to me, with what they had learned with the maintenance of temperatures,” Harris said. “I think the report speaks for itself.”
The health department is currently facing “the biggest challenge of our lifetime” Harris said, and is working with all parties to ensure everyone is comfortable with taking the vaccine.
“The back and forth of what had been done in the media might be good for clicks but it also might undermine trust in vaccine take-up rate,” he said.
Here is what Randolph, the county’s health officer, said in full Thursday afternoon:
“Many of you are already aware that the CDC and Tennessee Department of Health performed an assessment of the vaccine activities and that the CDC released the report on March 12, 2021.
And I just want to highlight again to the public, again, the findings, so it can remove any concerns and fear that you may have. The findings in this report stated that the COVID vaccine was maintained at the appropriate temperature (in the) pharmacy, when it was being transported to the vaccination sites and at the vaccination sites. It went on to conclude that the totality of the evidence suggests that people received first and second doses from the Shelby County Health Department between 12/ 28/20 and 2/24/2021 that they received valid, stable doses of the vaccine and revaccination is not recommended.
And I just want to reemphasize that because I want people to feel assured that the vaccine that you received was valid, stable and, subsequently, should be effective. I also want to take this opportunity to thank all of the Shelby County employees and staff, including Dr. Judy Martin and Dr. Marilyn Bruce and Dr. [Alisa Haushalter] for their efforts and their sacrifice.
I want to thank those who were responsible for being in charge of the sites; those who were responsible for transporting the vaccine and for maintaining and making sure that the cold chain was maintained. And it was verified by [the] CDC that it was. And I just want to state publicly, acknowledge and thank all of you for your effort, for your sacrifice, for the professional work that you did.
I know that we have taken some uncalled for and unjustified criticism in the media, but I want to tell you that this report, in my opinion, exonerates us and it shows that we did our job and you can hold your head up and not be ashamed.”
Later, in the news conference, Randolph was asked how the health department was exonerated. He mentioned two incidents — some potentially stolen doses and children that were vaccinated. Here’s what he said, in full:
“It exonerates the health department in the face that it showed that we maintained the proper temperature, handling and storage of the vaccine. Therefore, there’s not a need to vaccinate up to 47,000 people again. That had been thrown out as a possibility. And also as it relates to these so-called stolen vaccines, that have not been completely proven. Matter of fact, there’s still some investigation there.
And the vaccination of children did not occur as a result of a Shelby County nurse, our staff person, rendering that vaccine. And that is something that needs to be brought out and clarified. Those incidents occurred at sites that (were) not controlled and manned by the health department. It was the city of Memphis and UT Health Science Center that were over those particular locations. The Shelby County Health Department provided the vaccine, it provided nurses that (were) there to make sure that the vaccine maintained the cold chain, and it did, and they did. So we have gotten blamed for something that the health department staff and nurses did not do. And I think it is my duty as the health officer to bring that out, that it wasn’t the health department, their staff, who committed those particular errors.”
The city of Memphis referred The CA to University Clinical Health for comment.
Dr. Jon Mccullers, the senior associate dean for clinical affairs at the College of Medicine at UTHSC, said two children, ages 8 and 13, were vaccinated on Feb. 3 at the Appling Road Emissions site.
Mccullers helps oversee University Clinical Health-run and city of Memphis-run vaccination sites, including the Appling site, which has always been run by UCH and the city of Memphis.
“I think there were a lot of charges, I’d say, leveled against the county. I think there’s a sense that some of them were unfair. So you’re getting a little bit of guardedness,” he said. “People aren’t willing to be as open when they know they’re going to be subject to criticism, on this particular topic.”
Ultimately, Mccullers said he did not think assigning blame to individuals would ensure efficient operations moving forward.
“It’s a system issue. You always have to treat it that way. The blaming of a county official or my person who gave the vaccine or whatever it is doesn’t help anything. You have to say ‘OK, what went wrong, how do we fix it, how do we make sure it doesn’t happen again?’ And I have not heard as much of that talk as I think we should because of the political energy that’s been injected into the process.”
Commercial Appeal reporter Katherine Burgess contributed to this report.
Corinne Kennedy covers economic development, soccer and COVID-19’S impact on hospitals for the Commercial Appeal. She can be reached via email at Corinne.kennedy@commercial Appeal.com or at 901-297-3245.
Samuel Hardiman covers Memphis city government, politics and the pandemic response for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached by email at samuel.hardiman@commercial appeal.com.