Ontario health units wasted 100s of vaccine doses in March. That’s not the full story – CBC
Most health units wasted doses, but say they also pulled dozens of extra shots from vials
Apr 16, 2021
Most of Ontario’s public health units wasted dozens of COVID-19 vaccine doses last month. One wasted hundreds. But they argue that’s not the full story.
CBC News contacted all 34 Ontario public health units to ask how many, and why, doses were wasted in March as vaccination capacity ramped up significantly.
While wastages happen, health units say they also pull extra doses from vials, which they didn’t expect to have. That helps make up for doses they don’t use.
Wastages are a mix of manufacturer, equipment and human error. This includes cracked vials, particulate in vials and needle and syringe malfunctions. Clinic staff have dropped syringes on the ground, while patients have moved during injections and messed them up.
Some health units report having vaccine doses expire. Once you puncture a vial, you have six hours to use all its doses. Only one health unit explicitly said it wasted vaccines because it had trouble finding people to immunize.
