Illinois public health officials said as of Feb. 10, 526 doses of COVID-19 vaccination have so far been destroyed across the country. This is less than 1 percent of all vaccines administered across the country.
Sometimes the waste is caused by a broken vial or syringe. In other cases, vaccines were drawn but not administered, or vials were opened and they could not administer all the doses inside.
While only a small percentage of the doses administered in Illinois ended up in the trash, public health experts warned that delays and more potentially wasted vaccines could plague the operation without careful planning.
“No vaccine should go to waste,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Society for Public Health. “The dose wasted a lot of times because we just did not plan enough.”
He recommends that once stocks become available, officials should increase the distribution of vaccines after a 24-7 operation, such as a drive-by fast-food restaurant, especially to help vital workers who may not be able to take time to get a vaccine. get during the day. The Chicago resident has urged public health authorities to make sure systems exist to keep people up to date on extra doses so they are not wasted.
“Every dose that is wasted is a dose that can save someone’s life,” said Dr. Benjamin said. He said even if a few doses end up in the trash, it is a source of concern. “These are two people who either did not get their first dose or their second dose, and at the end of the day it could save their lives.”
The I-Team’s data investigation has so far revealed minimal wastage in the region, from less than 200 doses wasted in Chicago to two doses wasted in Kane County due to a needle function. DuPage County reports that less than 57 doses have been wasted. So far no single dose has been wasted in Kendall County. Altogether less than one hundredth percent of all doses in the whole country were discarded.
In northern suburban Lake County, public health officials have started a mass vaccination center at the fair where they vaccinate 600 people who are vaccinated daily. So far, Lake County officials have said 67 doses have been wasted nationwide; less than 1 percent of the total amount they received. They said they keep a ‘hot list’ of people who are eligible for people who want the vaccine to reduce waste at the end of the day.
“Handling the vaccine is a big challenge,” said Mark Pfister, executive director of the Lake County Department of Health. “The last thing we want is to waste any vaccine. At the end of the day, as it is, you know a fragile source, but also a limited source.”
In DuPage County, a new mass vaccination fair has been designed to increase the administration of vaccines. Provincial officials tell the I-Team that they hold a vaccination assistance list of candidates to reduce waste, and they hope more doses will be available soon to help frustrated residents look for scarce appointments.
“We have many procedures in place to ensure we monitor inventory so we are not in a position to have extra doses,” said Chris Hoff, director of the DuPage Heath Department of Community Health. “Because every dose is a dose that can go into someone’s arm.”
Neither Will County nor Cook County officials responded to I-Team requests for information on their vaccine waste data. Robert Davies, emergency coordinator for the Champaign-Urbana district for public health, said their Moderna lots had no net waste and actually had 88 doses more than they expected. Officials are currently unable to calculate the net waste of their Pfizer award. Sangamon County officials said only one dose was wasted there because a needle broke off in the last dose of a vial.
Data from the Illinois Department of Public Health, analyzed by the I-Team, show that as of Feb. 15, civil servants administered 73.7 percent of the vaccine doses allotted to Illinois. Northwestern University Transportation Center director and logistics expert Hani Mahmassani said the state’s relatively slow implementation is part of the reason for the seemingly minimal waste so far. He added that the situation could change as distribution to more sites expands.
“Of course, it will help increase the rate at which we vaccinate people by using the product, but on the other hand, it will also reduce waste control,” Mahmassani said. So far, it has not been at least a visible story of waste, but rather an inefficiency. ‘
“It was a bit rocky, you know, it was not what you wished for.” Part of it, in my opinion, only has to do with a situation, and frankly a distribution system that did not really exist in this country. , “said Dr. Archana Chatterjee, Dean of Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University.
Public health experts said that without that national distribution plan, states and local jurisdictions would have to do it alone, with varying degrees of success. Experts stressed that although 526 vials with vaccination in the trash are a fraction of what government officials received, they represent 526 loved ones, neighbors or friends who may not have been vaccinated yet. That’s 526 people who can continue their struggle just to get an appointment.
The I-Team has submitted requests for freedom of information to government officials and Chicago officials seeking answers on how each jurisdiction across the country manages and monitors waste. They will continue to update the story as they learn more about how to locate this important resource.
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