When a hospital refrigerator in Seattle broke, nurses gave 1,600 vaccine shots to anyone they could find.

Wearing bathrobes, pajamas or whatever else they could quickly throw on, hundreds of people flocked to get Covid vaccines in Seattle on Thursday night after a refrigerator that was chilling 1,600 doses broke down, leading to a frenzied overnight inoculation drive.

The impromptu vaccinations began after a refrigerator malfunctioned at a Kaiser Permanente hospital in Seattle, meaning the Moderna vaccines inside had to be quickly injected or they would become less effective and need to be thrown away. Health officials reached out to two other hospital systems in the city, and an urgent call was issued around 11 p.m., alerting residents that they had a rare chance to get vaccines if they could come right away.

“We’ve got to get these 1,600 doses into people’s arms in the next 12 hours,” Susan Mullaney, Kaiser’s regional president for Washington, said at a virtual news conference on Friday, describing the hospital’s call to action.

Within minutes, there were long lines outside of at least two medical centers, and by about 3:30 a.m., the vaccines had all been administered, hospital officials said.

In interviews with local television stations, the arriving patients said they had been relaxing at home, washing dishes or watching the news when they saw that they suddenly had a chance to get a shot. One couple said their daughter had called after they were in bed to say that she had signed them up for an appointment at 1 a.m.

“We didn’t have time to dress up, so I just came as I am,” the mother said, motioning toward her husband, who was wearing a bathrobe.

The situation in Seattle was only the latest instance in which a breakdown in the inoculation process forced health officials to give the vaccines to anyone they could find. It also highlights the challenge posed by the two vaccines that have so far been approved in the United States — both need to be kept cold. Earlier this week, health workers stuck in a snowstorm in Oregon walked from car to car, asking stranded drivers if they wanted a shot, after realizing that the doses they were transporting might expire as they waited on the highway.

Seattle hospital officials told local news outlets that they had tried to prioritize older patients and others who were already eligible for vaccines in the state, but they said their first priority had been to give out all of the vaccines before they expired.

“We are tired, but we are inspired,” Kevin Brooks, the chief operating officer of Swedish Health Services, one of two hospitals that administered the vaccines, said in a statement. “It was touching to see grandmas in wheelchairs at 2 a.m. being vaccinated.”

waking up and being genuinely thrilled to go to class because today is THAT CLASS you love so much you’d like it to never end

coffee breaks with friends, chatting and joking about this particularly hard essay and the prof’s mannerism

coffee breaks on your own, as you absent-mindedly watch the people around you, while thinking about what you’re working on

finding this book you’ve been dying to read for so long, and borrowing it from the library

the feeling of excitement that goes through you whenever you remember The Book is in your backpack

understanding everything during demanding classes and being genuinely interested in the subject

buying a New Special Pen and taking colorful notes that look super pretty

not being able to shut up about your school projects (no your friends dont really care about the intricate details of what you’re working on, they don’t even have the same major as you, but they’re happy to hear you rant with such a burning passion)

actually doing the extra reading and having your curiosity so piqued by what you’re reading that you go on and on and suddenly its 1am and what happened

printing the project you’ve spent so much time and energy on and feeling the paper’s warmth

actually submitting that project without feeling awful about it because you know you did your best and aren’t responsible for what happens next

when you finally finish this Super Hard And Important Essay at like 3am, open the window and feel the cold night air on your burning cheeks and everything is dark and quiet and you can see the moon and you’re at peace with everything for a few minutes

when this professor you admire says you did a great job and/or that you’re talented!!!!

realizing two concepts that seemed so far away from each other and that you discovered in wildly different contexts are actually interlinked, then Realizing™ things and linking concepts/works/articles to each other at the speed of light & being super excited about it

being so deeply immersed in your work that you didn’t realize two hours have passed

finding the Perfect Spot at the library

that Pure Joy moment when you FINALLY understand that super obscure sentence/text

when you feel anxious because you’re not done with your homework & the deadline is super tight & your friend tells you they aren’t done yet either

same but with an even more intense relief feeling when you realize you both haven’t even started yet

when the professor starts a new reasoning and you can predict what the next idea/the final conclusion will be

when the professor mention your favorite novel/author/fictional character in class and you feel like your internal screech of joy could shatter glass

the Academic Salt™ that has you like 👀👀

when the professor tears apart an author or scholar you hate and you’re like YES I WANT BLOOD GIVE ME BLOOD

when you learn that Cool New Fact that makes you reconsider your whole life

leaving the library after a long productive day and feeling like nothing is real but experiencing everything more intensely

leaving the library at night after a long study session and everybody has left already and its just you and the long neon-lit corridors then stepping outside and smelling the crisp night wind

when you’re anxious af for a class and the professor is actually super friendly and you feel confident enough to ask questions

and suddently thank to this one professor EVERYTHING MAKES SENSE

understanding that One Difficult Point and suddently you feel like you UNDERSTAND THE FABRIC OF THE UNIVERSE

sometimes you can feel like you have too much in your bag but then one friend has a problem and they are pleasently surprised when you have Just The Right Thing

me: *never becomes less tired*