At the start of the pandemic, vaccine doses against the coronavirus were a coveted commodity – now they have become a slow seller in many places. Many doses also remained unused in our northern neighbors: a parliamentary inquiry found that 3.9 million doses of vaccine had to be thrown away because the expiry date had passed. Only one vaccine from the manufacturer was affected.
The magnitude of expired vaccines is worse than previously feared, German media reported. Several million doses of vaccines expired between December 2021 and the end of June 2022 “at various stages of the logistics supply chain” and were therefore unusable, according to a response from the federal health ministry to a parliamentary question.
Number of expired vaccine doses higher than expected
Only the vaccines of one manufacturer had to be thrown away: only that of the American pharmaceutical company Moderna were so many vaccine doses left. A total of 36.2 million Moderna cans were delivered in Germany – more than every tenth ended up in the garbage. According to the editorial network Germany, the Ministry of Health assumed in April that only three million doses of vaccine would have to be destroyed.
MP Stephan Pilsinger, who made the request, was “shocked” that more vaccine than expected ended up in the waste. “Certainly in times of tight budgets and inflation, the state should not useless throw the taxpayers’ money out the window,” said the CSU politician.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
