Some 500,000 vaccine doses ‘literally thrown in bin’ by tomorrow

THE Health Service Executive has moved to clear up conflicting messages on vaccine waste, as 500,000 doses risk being wasted by tomorrow, despite previous statements to the Irish Mail on Sunday claiming no doses were due to expire this month.

Around 200,000 doses of vaccine have expired in the past two weeks — with the HSE stating that half a million doses may be wasted by the end of the month if more people do not step forward for their boosters.

In early December, the MOS was alerted by staff working in vaccine centres that they were told to switch from using Pfizer vaccines to Moderna vaccines. They were told this decision was necessary as around two million doses were due to expire.

The HSE told the MoS that Moderna vaccines will be used primarily by vaccine centres ‘to ensure that we maximise the usage of all COVID-19 vaccines available’.

On December 17, the HSE told the MoS that ‘only 200 doses were due to expire by January 31 and given the pace and uptake by those who are eligible to receive the vaccine, they will be administered in ample time and will not expire before use.’

The HSE updated this figure, stating that no vaccines are due to expire, which contradicted photographs of Moderna vials in vaccine centres — seen by the MoS — containing thousands of doses due for expiry this month. Despite its initial insistence that no vaccines were due to expire, the HSE then changed this statement, when it said on January 22 that 100,000 doses were wasted in the last week and that 500,000 are at further risk of expiring.

The MoS has sought clarity on how the HSE moved from no vaccines expiring in January to 500,000 vaccines potentially going to waste. The HSE has said in their December response it was referring to vaccines in its storage centre. HSE spokeswoman Ciara Ní Ruairc told the MoS: ‘Data from our vaccine storage centre showed there were 200 vaccines due to expire. When a further query was put to the press office, four days later, that number had gone to zero — as they had been distributed out to vaccination centres.’

‘In mid-December, in light of Omicron, a national decision was taken on the acceleration of the

booster programme. The HSE responded accordingly and the booster programme was expanded through all channels, including extending opening hours, additional walk-in clinics and online booking of booster doses.

‘Our logistics team had to ensure all channels had sufficient stock to accommodate as many people as possible and to ensure maximum levels of vaccine stock was available during this period.

‘Vaccines were removed from freezer storage and distributed to vaccination centres for administration. It is at this point that the expiry date of 30 days commences. Since that decision was taken, well over one million booster vaccines have been administered and there was no indication vaccines would expire at the time of the response issuing. The situation has now changed.’

A senior vaccine centre source reiterated what they were told last November: ‘We were using primarily Pfizer, we were told there was no Moderna left at all and then all of a sudden we were told to switch from using Pfizer to Moderna because there were two million doses expiring in January.

‘Those doses had to already have been in the country because Moderna doses usually have a six-to-nine month shelf-life when they arrive in the country frozen.

‘So these weren’t dispatched until December. All the centres got Moderna, but a lot of people went to GPs who had Pfizer and the GPs were allowed to boost anyone over the age of 16.’

‘Now we’re in a position where huge numbers are expiring every day. We have flagged for weeks that these doses are short-dated and they just deny it.’

‘The management don’t see this from a clinical perspective. From what I can see, there are no medicines management experts responsible for the ordering of vaccines.

‘They cannot say the reason so many vaccines are going to waste is down to people not coming forward for boosters — the main reason is the centres were given so much Moderna and we were limited in the people we could vaccinate compared to GPs.’

‘It means all these doses will quite literally be thrown in the bin. There will be some wastage going into February too.’

‘Now huge numbers are expiring every day’