DOH: COVID-19 vaccine wastage to breach 50M
MANILA — The Department of Health admitted Thursday that the number of COVID-19 vaccines that will have gone to waste by the end of the month will breach 50 million and may even grow to more than 60 million should the country’s remaining stockpile of shots go unused.
DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire confirmed an estimate floated by Sen. Francis Tolentino during a Blue Ribbon hearing that a total of 50.74 million doses will have gone to waste as the jabs will expire by monthend.
“The number of doses that will expire would probably total an additional 6.74 million doses. Madame Secretary. Do you confirm this? If this will happen, that will be 44 million plus 6.74 million for a total of 50.74 million wasted vaccines,” Tolentino asked.
In response, Vergeire said, “Yes, Mr. Senator, I confirm that this would be the amount if we already include those to expire until the end of March of this year.”
Figures bared by Tolentino during the hearing showed that 4.36 million doses of Pfizer vaccines for adults expired last month, while 3 million of the pharmaceutical giant’s jabs for children will spoil within March and April.
An additional 13,040 Sinovac shots will expire by the end of May, while 2.16 million more of the same brand will be unusable by September and October.
Worse, Vergeire agreed with Tolentino’s assessment that at least 60 million more shots may go to waste due to the low uptake of jabs because of hesitancy.
While Vergeire said that 94.62% of the eligible population or 73.8 million have been fully vaccinated, meaning they have received two shots of the COVID-19 jab, only 27.65% or 21.5 million have received a booster.
“But we are doing all things possible now so that we can intervene and we can ramp up the vaccination,” she said, noting that they have made COVID-19 jabs accessible in community health facilities. —