As North Carolina is initially among the slower states to administer coronavirus vaccines, reporters are questioning the effectiveness of its implementation.
At a January 21 press conference, a reporter for Mandy Cohen, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, asked how many shots had been misused or gone to waste.
“As a state, we do not want to waste any vaccine. We see very small amounts of vaccine waste in our CVMS system, but it is very small, as in the dozens of doses, ”Cohen replied.
Is North Carolina’s outlying numbers ‘very small’, even ‘in the tens?’
The health department says it receives on average less than ten spoiled doses per provider. However, the total number of spoiled doses is in the four digits, not two.
A day after Cohen’s briefing, the North Carolina Department of Health told the Associated Press that a total of 1,280 doses had been discarded.
About the difference
We asked the department about the comments Cohen made on Thursday. Does she describe the number of 1,280? Did she see that particular 1,280 figure?
Chris Mackey, director of the department of communications, said no.
Cohen did not see the specific total when she spoke at the briefing on Jan. 21, Mackey said because the department only did a report on the numbers later. Cohen based her comments on a one-time conversation with other health officials.
‘We did a report when someone asked us for it. Mandy does not have the number, “Mackey said in a telephone interview. “She tried to say that we have not seen any major incidents of vaccine waste yet.”
The 1,280 spoiled doses are 0.1% of the 1.1 million doses in the state, the department said in an email.
There are 250 healthcare providers administering the shots, the email reads, meaning the losses average about five doses per provider.
Compare states
It’s hard to know how North Carolina’s numbers compare to other states.
The CDC has instructed states to report vaccine waste into its detection system, agency spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund told PolitiFact. However, ProPublica reporters found that some states do not detect their spoiled doses.
“We are working to find out how you can provide this data online in the future when the data is more complete,” Nordlund said.
A 2019 World Health Organization report states that vaccine waste is expected to be between 5% and 20% during mass vaccination campaigns.
There are reports of other states losing hundreds of doses in a few incidents.
Wisconsin received national attention when authorities accused a local pharmacist of deliberately destroying about 500 doses of the vaccine.
In Massachusetts, NBC News reports that a veterinary hospital lost 1,900 doses after a cleaning contractor accidentally pulled out a refrigerator. In Ohio, the Columbus Dispatch reported that a pharmacy wasted 890 doses by not preserving it properly. In another case, nearly 12,000 doses on their way to Michigan spoiled after the truck became too cold.
Our verdict
Cohen said the health department received reports of “very small amounts of vaccine waste … but it is very little, as in the dozens of doses.” The health department clarified Cohen’s remarks a day later.
It is fair to say that the spoilage of vaccines is ‘very small’ – a tenth of 1%. However, it was inaccurate for Cohen to say that the number was ‘in the tens’. The total number was 1,280.
We rate this claim half true.