WASHINGTON – Pharmacies and state governments in the United States have thrown away at least 15.1 million Covid-19 vaccine doses since March 1, according to an article published by NBC News, quoting government data.
It is a far larger number than previously known, and still probably an undercount, reported the Xinhua news agency, quoting the article.
“It’s really tragic that we have a situation where vaccines are being wasted, while lots of African countries have not had even 5% of their populations vaccinated,” Assoc Prof Sharifah Sekalala at England’s University of Warwick was quoted as saying.
“A lot of the global south is unvaccinated. The African continent is still below 10%, and that’s just a huge inequality and it’s really problematic.”
Wasted vaccine doses topped four million in June and July in the US, according to the data cited by NBC News.
Though demand for jabs in the country rose in August as cases and hospitalisations surged due to the Delta variant, at least 3.8 million doses were still wasted last month. – Bernama, September 4, 2021
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