(Toronto) An informal investigation shows that at least 1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been disposed of in Canada.
The Canadian Press has asked health ministries across the country to indicate how many doses should be sacrificed, especially because their expiration date is past, but also for any other reason.
Some departments did not respond by the requested date. Ontario refused to provide information while other jurisdictions, such as Yukon and Prince Edward Island, provided only the number of expired doses.
However, the survey showed that since the first vaccines arrived in Canada in December 2020, at least 1016,669 doses have been discarded, which represents approximately 2.6% of all doses distributed to provinces and territories.
The proportion of unused doses varied widely across the country; For example, it was 10% in Alberta, but only 0.3% in Nova Scotia.
Toronto public health physician Ross Upshur, who is also chair of the World Health Organization (WHO) ethics committee, regrets that it is difficult to determine how much vaccine doses are appropriately used in Canada due to a lack of transparency and poor data sharing.
He notes that some doses may be lost simply by their expiration date, but others may be discarded because they have not been stored at the required temperature. The counties have listed several different reasons for discontinuing the doses, including difficulties with the use of injections.
considered ds Upshur remembers that several decades of massive vaccination programs have often shown that missed doses are a reality.
Adam Houston, of Doctors Without Borders, remains outraged by missing doses in Canada when 47% of the world’s eligible population for COVID-19 vaccination did not benefit from the first injection. In his view, wasting doses during the pandemic is the worst case scenario, and he urges Canada to do more to avoid it as much as possible.
