Over 82 Million , COVID Vaccine Doses , Have Been Wasted in the US.
NBC reports that 82.1 million COVID vaccine doses have been discarded in America between December 2020 and May of 2022.
That accounts for over 11% of the doses distributed by the United States federal government.
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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that is an increase from the 65 million wasted doses reported as of late February.
Over a quarter of those doses were thrown away by CVS and Walmart in the U.S. Over a quarter of those doses were thrown away by CVS and Walmart in the U.S. Five other pharmacies, including Costco, wasted over a quarter of the vaccines they received.
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Five other pharmacies, including Costco, wasted over a quarter of the vaccines they received.
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In Oklahoma, 28% of the nearly 4 million doses the state received ended up being discarded.
In Alaska, 27% of the state's 1 million doses were wasted, according to CDC data.
According to NBC, the overall amount of waste matches World Health Organization estimates for a vaccination campaign of this size.
According to NBC, the overall amount of waste matches World Health Organization estimates for a vaccination campaign of this size.
However, public health experts warn the high amount of waste is still alarming.
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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 a first dose, Dr. Sheela Shenoi, infectious disease expert at the Yale School of Medicine, via NBC.
NBC reports that a portion of the wasted doses include batches that expired on the shelf, some that were spoiled in power outages and others that were just discarded.
NBC reports that a portion of the wasted doses include batches that expired on the shelf, some that were spoiled in power outages and others that were just discarded
