DOH: P15.6 billion worth of Covid-19 vaccines wasted

MANILA — According to a health official, over 31 million shots or PHP15.6 billion worth of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccines were wasted so far.

Department of Health (DOH) officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a radio interview that 24 million doses were wasted because of short shelf life while the remaining 7 million were discarded due to temperature excursion or opened but unused.

“This 31 million po ‘pag tiningnan po natin ‘yung kabuuan, almost 70 percent po dito ay ‘yun pong na-procure ng private sector at saka ng (When we look at the totality of this 31 million, almost 70 percent here, almost 70 percent of this were procured by the private sector and the) local governments,” Vergeire said.

She noted that the initial Covid-19 vaccine batches only have a six-month shelf life from the date of manufacture.

The DOH earlier revealed that vaccine hesitancy and complacency among Filipinos are two of the factors that led to low booster shot coverage nationwide.

There are 73,707,875 Filipinos have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, and 20,866,539 have received their booster dose as of November 20.