More than 15 million doses of coronavirus vaccine have been thrown away in the United States since the beginning of spring 2021, according to NBC broadcaster.
According to government data, Walgreens disposed of 2.6 million unused doses of coronavirus immunization drugs, CVS 2.3 million, Walmart pharmacies destroyed 1.6 million vaccines, and Rite Aid 1.1 million data for some states and institutions may be incomplete.
The state health ministries also reported on the disposal of the vaccine, but in much smaller amounts. The NBC notes that the number of used vaccines is significantly higher than the ones discarded – about 368 million doses. Vaccines could be scrapped for various reasons: damage to ampoules, violation of storage conditions, and more.
In total, since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, more than 39 million cases of infection and 642 thousand deaths have been recorded. Vaccinations in the country are carried out using drugs from Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.