Getting stuck on the road in the middle of a snowstorm is not an ideal situation, but for several Oregon drivers, it turned into their lucky day.
Michael Weber, the public health director of Josephine County, and a group of public health workers got stranded on the highway during a snowstorm while transporting doses of the Moderna vaccine, reports The New York Times.
A tractor-trailer jackknifed on the road ahead of them, and the group, which was around 30 miles from their destination, realized that they could be stuck for hours.
Because the COVID-19 vaccines need to be used within a very specific timeframe after they have been thawed, they knew they had to act fast in “one of the coolest operations,” said Weber.
The group began walking from car to car, offering other stranded motorists the vaccine, and while Weber shared that most laughed and declined, several took them up on the offer.
“It was a strange conversation,” said Weber. “Imagine yourself stranded on the side of the road in a snowstorm and having someone walk up and say: ‘Hey. Would you like a shot in the arm?’”
The vaccinations were done with an ambulance present and were overseen by a doctor. All six doses of the vaccine that the group had with them were administered, with “one individual who was so happy, he took his shirt off and jumped out of the car,” shared Weber.
The public health director explained that “once we knew we weren’t going to be back in town in time to use the vaccine, it was the obvious choice,” adding that “our No. 1 rule right now is nothing gets wasted.”
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