Millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses go to waste
Abstract
Vaccine distributors across the US have collectively discarded over 82.1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from December 2020 through mid-May of 2022. In February, the CDC had announced a waste of 65 million doses, the number now rising to 82.1 million doses in just under three months. Retail pharmacies, CVS, and Walmart are among the leading bodies to have thrown away a huge number of doses. Other pharmacies including Health Mart, DaVita, Rite Aid, Publix, and Costco also wasted more than a quarter of the doses they were required to distribute. Oklahoma wasted 28% of its 4 million doses while Alaska wasted 27% of its 1 million doses over the period in question. A big chunk of the dosses was tossed at the end of the day when there were no candidates to use the remaining few doses of an opened vial. "It's a tremendous loss to pandemic control - especially in the context of millions of people around the world who haven't even been able to get the first dose," said Dr. Sheela Shenoi, an infectious disease expert at the Yale School of Medicine.