EDMONTON –
The Department of Health told CTV News that 10% of Alberta’s total vaccine supply has so far been wasted or expired.
Alberta has received more than 7.8 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. A survey by the Canadian Press found that of the 67 million jurisdictions in Canada that have received approximately 1,016,669 doses – about 2.6% – that have yet to reach anyone.
According to that survey, vaccine waste in Alberta is the highest in the country.
The number of unused doses varied across Canada, with Nova Scotia reporting rates as low as 0.3%. Ontario did not provide any wasted and expired dose information in the survey.
“As vaccine coverage reaches new highs in Alberta, the number of Albertans getting vaccinated each day has dropped and more doses left in the vial,” said Lisa Glover, spokeswoman for Alberta Health. wasted.
Glover points out that the 2019-20 flu vaccine campaign had a waste rate of about 8%.
Glover added: “This is not a challenge unique to Alberta. “Other jurisdictions are also facing slowing vaccine rates as much of their population has been vaccinated.”
To vaccinate as many people as possible, Glover adds, doses of vaccine are made to order, which can increase waste.
Each vial of the vaccine contains multiple doses, which means that if not enough people come to the clinic or appointments are missed, the remaining doses in that vial could go to waste, Glover explains.
Once the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine vial is punctured, the vaccine can be stored for up to six hours at the right temperature. Moderna photographs can last 24 hours if stored in the right conditions after being punctured.
As of Thursday, more than 6.77 million doses of the vaccine had been administered in Alberta.
75% of the total population is vaccinated with at least one dose, and 70.5% of Albertans are fully immunized – or 82.8% of the population 12 years of age and older.
To date, Alberta has received over 5.5 million Pfizer/BioNTech, 1.9 million Moderna, 316,300 AstraZeneca and 5,000 Janssen doses.
Alberta is expected to begin vaccinating children aged 5 to 11 by the end of next week.
With files from the Canadian Press
