U.S. Wasted 11% of its COVID-19 Vaccines

NBC News reported today U.S. entities discarded about 82 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from December 2020 through mid-May 2022, just over 11% of the doses the federal government had distributed.

According to data shared by the U.S. CDC shared with NBC News, that's an increase from the 65 million doses wasted as of late February 2022.

Joshua Eaton reported two states discarded more than a quarter of their doses: Oklahoma, which tossed 28% of the nearly 4 million doses it received, and Alaska, which threw away almost 27% of its 1 million doses, according to the CDC data.

Unlike most vaccines in the U.S., COVID-19 vaccines come in multidose vials, which means all the doses must be used within hours once the vials are opened or discarded.

'Even when every effort is made to reduce the volume of wastage in a vaccination program, sometimes it is necessary to identify doses as "waste" to ensure patient safety and vaccine effectiveness, says the CDC.

For example, when there is an insufficient volume in the vial for use or when the vaccine dose is spoiled or expired, the dose might be considered wasted.

Another example is whenever a temperature monitoring device indicates that the vials are out of temperature range, this is a temperature excursion, and the vaccine may need to be identified as waste.

The CDC develops policies and procedures to help jurisdictions and planners handle COVID-19 vaccine waste.

On June 5, 2022, about 66.7% of the U.S. population had been 'fully vaccinated' with an Approve/Authorized COVID-19 vaccine.

And about 46.9% of eligible people have been 'boosted' and are now 'up to date' with their vaccinations.

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