BOSTON (CBS) – More than 1,200 doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been lost in Massachusetts, the state told the WBZ-TV I-Team. As of Friday, 1,096 doses of Moderna and 176 doses of Pfizer were reported as wasted, a total of 1,272 doses.
That’s a 0.13% wastage percentage for the 960,100 doses of COVID vaccine shipped to Massachusetts, according to the COVID-19 Response Command Center.
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The I-Team reported Monday that extra doses of the vaccine had been wasted.
Healthcare providers regularly find extra doses in the Modern vaccines that should be used within six hours of opening the vials. The I-Team spoke to the Brockton Neighborhood Health Center supervisor, who said a few extra doses were lost when “no one was on a waiting list that we could access.”
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Massachusetts needs reporting on discarded doses.
Dr. Michael Grodin, a medical ethicist at the Boston University School of Public Health, called the wastage of vaccines ‘unacceptable and unjustifiable’.
“It’s not rocket science. It is not about the development of the vaccine – it was the real challenge, “he said. “In the future, we need to do better work. ‘
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The state said it has received nearly a million doses of the vaccine and has administered 70% to date.