Millions of COVID-19 shots set to go to waste, as vaccine rollout slows.
ABC News Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Jen Ashton explains how vaccines work.While top U.S. health officials are urging some Americans to get yet another coronavirus booster shot, local health departments across the country are grappling with a growing dilemma -- how to address a declining demand for vaccines, while minimizing the waste of unused millions of doses currently in state stockpiles and at risk of expiring.
"It is a tremendous loss of opportunity for these vaccines to not make it into the shoulders of those who need them," C. Buddy Creech, director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program and associate professor of pediatric infectious diseases, told ABC News."Not only is it a financial loss for the purchaser of vaccines -- the U.S. government -- but also a significant health loss for those who are not yet protected from COVID and its complications.
"Most of the wasted or unused doses are reported because a provider punctures a multidose vial in order to give someone a vaccine but does not necessarily have enough people to give the remaining doses before the vial expires," a representative for the State Joint Information Center in Colorado, where more than 619,000 doses have been unused, told ABC News.
Nearly 760,000 vaccine doses have been designated as non-viable, spoiled, or expired, officials in Oregon reported, but officials told ABC News that such totals are"not unexpected." Officials said they continue to work to minimize wastage by controlling the amount of vaccine that is ordered and shipped to the state, and by redistributing vaccine when possible within the state.Last spring, millions of Americans flocked to COVID-19 vaccination clinics across the country to get their shots. In April of 2021, when every adult became eligible to get vaccinated, more than two million people were getting their first doses every day.
"Efforts including incentives, improved convenience, mandates and targeted public health messaging during a surge have all had various successes in increasing vaccination rates. It's hard to imagine what might influence someone to change their stance especially with cases at low levels and restrictions being lifted," Brownstein said.
"The wastage of millions of doses is a stark reminder of the privilege we have had in accessing vaccines while the majority of the world had to wait months. Extraordinary resources and financial investment will ultimately go to waste," Brownstein said.Delaware Sen. Chris Coons warned last week that millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses, which were set to be shipped overseas, could expire, without proper funding from Congress.
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