But figures released to me by the Department of Health (DOH) this week confirm that, three years into the vaccine program, only 70 million doses, or 26% of the 267.3 million doses purchased, have been administered, while 35% of vaccines doses have been wasted since the start of the vaccine rollout.
Last week, the Australian reported that more than 35% of Covid vaccines were being tossed out as of January due to oversupply. The revelation came from the DOH's public submission to the federal Covid inquiry.
The wording made it unclear if this was a cumulative figure or applicable only to the month of January, so I contacted the DOH to confirm the total wastage to date, along with some further questions on the value of doses purchased, delivered, and wasted, and exactly how many had been administered.
A DOH spokesperson responded,
"As of 31 March 2024 the total COVID-19 vaccine program wastage rate
was at 35.69%. Australia's wastage rate is within the World Health
Organization (WHO) acceptable wastage parameters for multidose vials of
15% and 40%.
"Approximately 80% of COVID-19 vaccine wastage is
attributed to expiry of doses across warehouses and vaccine
administration sites."
This appears to mean that 80% of the wasted doses
simply expired on the shelf....<<<Read More>>>...