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Source: https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coron...id-19-vaccine-doses-informal-survey-1.5672817
Canada has thrown away at least one million COVID-19 vaccine doses: informal survey
Mickey Djuric and Laura Osman
The Canadian Press
Published Friday, November 19, 2021 4:29AM EST Last Updated Friday, November 19, 2021 4:08PM EST
An informal survey shows that at least one million doses of Canada's COVID-19 vaccine supply have gone to waste.
The Canadian Press asked health ministries across the country to provide the number of doses that had to be disposed of because they had expired or for other reasons.
Not all were able to reply by deadline. Some jurisdictions - including Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Prince Edward Island - only provided the number of expired doses. Ontario refused to provide any information.
The survey suggests at least 1,016,669 doses have been rejected since vaccines first arrived last December. That's about 2.6 per cent of the entire supply delivered to the provinces and territories that provided their numbers.
Unused doses vary wildly across Canada. Alberta reported disposing of 10 per cent of its doses; Nova Scotia 0.3 per cent.
Some waste is to be expected, but Canada should be striving for the lowest amount possible, said Dr. Ross Upshur of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health and co-chair of the World Health Organization's COVID-19 ethics working group.
It's difficult to know if Canada is meeting that goal because of poor data-sharing and a lack of transparency, said Upshur...
Canada has thrown away at least one million COVID-19 vaccine doses: informal survey
Mickey Djuric and Laura Osman
The Canadian Press
Published Friday, November 19, 2021 4:29AM EST Last Updated Friday, November 19, 2021 4:08PM EST
An informal survey shows that at least one million doses of Canada's COVID-19 vaccine supply have gone to waste.
The Canadian Press asked health ministries across the country to provide the number of doses that had to be disposed of because they had expired or for other reasons.
Not all were able to reply by deadline. Some jurisdictions - including Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Prince Edward Island - only provided the number of expired doses. Ontario refused to provide any information.
The survey suggests at least 1,016,669 doses have been rejected since vaccines first arrived last December. That's about 2.6 per cent of the entire supply delivered to the provinces and territories that provided their numbers.
Unused doses vary wildly across Canada. Alberta reported disposing of 10 per cent of its doses; Nova Scotia 0.3 per cent.
Some waste is to be expected, but Canada should be striving for the lowest amount possible, said Dr. Ross Upshur of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health and co-chair of the World Health Organization's COVID-19 ethics working group.
It's difficult to know if Canada is meeting that goal because of poor data-sharing and a lack of transparency, said Upshur...
