Vaccine-administering entities in the United States have thrown away over 15 million doses of the COVID-19 jabs since March 1, NBC News reported on Wednesday citing obtained governmental data.
Over half of the figure is attributed to the four largest pharmaceutical chains, which have reported their wastage data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Walgreens had tossed 2.6 million doses, CVS – 2.3 million, Walmart – 1.6 million and finally Rite Aid reported throwing away 1.1 million shots.
CDC spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund stated in a written statement that compared to the overall number of administered shots, the amount of wasted doses “remains extremely low, which is evidence of the strong partnership among the federal government, jurisdictions, and vaccine providers to get as many people vaccinated as possible while reducing vaccine wastage across the system.”