BOSTON (CBS) — More than 1,200 doses of the coronavirus vaccine have gone to waste in Massachusetts, the state told the WBZ-TV I-Team. As of Friday, 1,096 Moderna doses and 176 Pfizer doses have been reported as wasted, for a total of 1,272 doses.
That’s a vaccine wastage percentage of 0.13% for the 960,100 COVID vaccine doses that have been shipped to Massachusetts, according to the COVID-19 Response Command Center.
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The I-Team reported on Monday that extra doses of the vaccine have been wasted.
Healthcare providers are routinely finding extra doses in the Moderna vaccines, which must be used within six hours of opening the vials. The I-Team spoke with the supervisor of the Brockton Neighborhood Health Center, who said some extra doses went to waste when “there was nobody on a wait list that we could access in that moment.”
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Massachusetts requires reporting of discarded doses.
Dr. Michael Grodin, a medical ethicist with Boston University’s School of Public Health, calls the waste of vaccines “unacceptable and non-justifiable.”
“It’s not rocket science. It’s not about developing the vaccine – that was the real challenge,” he said. “In the future we need to do a better job. “
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The state said it has received nearly a million doses of the vaccine and to date it has administered 70%.