Storm outages force Latvian family doctors to discard vaccines
Tuesday 25th August 2026 on 17:45 in
Latvia
Power cuts caused by a storm have forced family doctor practices in Latvia to discard vaccines stored in refrigerators, LSM reported, citing Latgale Regional Television. Doctors say their practices are not prepared for such emergencies.
Electricity went out in the town of Varakļāni and at its hospital at about 10 p.m. on Saturday during the storm. Power was not restored for more than 24 hours.
When staff checked the vaccine refrigerator at family doctor Sandra Gritāne’s practice on Sunday morning, the thermometer showed 12 degrees Celsius. The vaccines were no longer safe to use because they must be stored at between two and eight degrees.
About 40 vaccines had to be discarded, said medical assistant Dace Ozoliņa. They included vaccines for children, adults and pregnant women. The practice had not yet received the new vaccines ordered for that month.
Authorities are still compiling the exact number of affected practices and discarded doses.
The Latvian Association of Family Physicians said the incident showed that many more practices could be affected in a similar situation in the future.
“We are not prepared and do not know the real consequences that could arise,” said Guntis Balodis, a family doctor in Jēkabpils and a member of the association. He said that if a similar outage had occurred in Riga, many practices could have faced the same situation.
The Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has been monitoring the situation continuously since Monday and advising medical institutions. It has also prepared recommendations for vaccination centres on how to act in such circumstances.
Some vaccination centres have already written off vaccines, the centre said, but the process is still at an early stage. It therefore cannot yet provide data showing the actual number of affected vaccination centres or the volume of vaccines to be discarded.
Family doctor practices said vaccines intended for children are currently the most pressing concern. The damaged vaccines also raise questions about financial losses. Some vaccines kept in family doctors’ refrigerators are paid for by the state, while others were purchased by the practices themselves.