Tens of thousands of dollars of medication will have to be thrown out after a thief stole a generator which was powering two fridges full of vaccines at a Broken Hill pharmacy.  

The far west of NSW has been relying on generator power since a storm came through last Wednesday night and destroyed several transmission towers south of Broken Hill.

Back-up generators have been powering the far western region of Broken Hill, Tibooburra, Wilcannia, Menindee and White Cliffs.

Jason Harvey, part-owner of Outback Pharmacies, which has 5 pharmacies in town said it had received generators to supply its vaccine fridges which needed to remains between two and eight degrees in temperature.

“We've basically run the generators, fill them up every night. And, unfortunately, last night one of the generators got filled up at midnight and then it was no longer there when we went to open the store in the morning,” he said.

The stolen generator meant the contents of the two fridges at the Good Price Pharmacy at the Village Shopping Centre had to be thrown out.