![]() ![]() “I think we are getting to a place where, to continue to be successful with vaccination, we’re going to have to tolerate some waste,” said Dr. Vaccine waste could increase in the coming weeks as officials shift tactics to inoculate harder-to-reach populations, public health experts say. Even still, the CDC has provided guidance and worked with health departments to train staff members to reduce wastage, and clinic staffers should do “everything possible” to avoid wasting shots, she added. “Though every effort is made to reduce the volume of wastage in a vaccination program, sometimes it’s necessary to identify doses as ‘waste’ to ensure anyone wanting a vaccine can receive it, as well as to ensure patient safety and vaccine effectiveness,” Fowlie said. territory in the federal data - was 0.19 percent. States and some large cities accounted for 23.3 percent of vaccine waste reported, and federal agencies, including the Bureau of Prisons and the Indian Health Service, for just 1.54 percent. ![]() Overall, pharmacies accounted for almost 75 percent of wasted doses reported to the CDC. Before scheduled clinics, she said, Walgreens would base doses it would need on registrations, “which minimized excess and reduced overestimations.”ĬDC spokesperson Kate Fowlie said that because the retail pharmacy giants were tasked with administering a large number of doses, “a higher percentage of the overall wastage would not be unexpected, particularly in an early vaccination effort that spanned thousands of locations.” Since President Joe Biden took office in January, his administration has directed pharmacies to prioritize vaccinations for teachers and school personnel. “Our goal has always been ensuring every dose of vaccine is used,” company spokesperson Kris Lathan said in an email. Walgreens said its wastage amounted to less than 0.5 percent of vaccines the company administered through March 29, which totaled 3 million shots in long-term care facilities and 5.2 million more through the federal government’s retail pharmacy partnership. ![]() “Despite the inherent challenges, our teams were able to limit waste to approximately one dose per onsite vaccination clinic,” he added. “Missed opportunities for vaccination in long-term care invariably results in deaths.”Ī CVS spokesperson, Michael DeAngelis, in an email blamed wasted doses on “issues with transportation restrictions, limitations on redirecting unused doses, and other factors.” “CVS and Walgreens didn’t have a clue when it came to interacting with nursing homes,” he said. Wasserman said the companies’ approach was too restrictive and their unfamiliarity with long-term facilities’ needs harmed the effort. Michael Wasserman, immediate past president of the California Association of Long Term Care Medicine and a critic of the corporate effort. “To me, this ultimately correlates with just poor planning,” said Dr. And under the Medicare program, it pays providers roughly $40 for each dose administered. CVS, Walgreens and other retailers don’t pay for the vaccine. Because the federal government is footing the bill for the country’s doses, any waste amounts to “basically throwing (taxpayer) money down the chute,” he said. Lee, a professor of health policy and management at the City University of New York. had delivered roughly 189.5 million vaccine doses and administered 147.6 million, including 7.7 million in long-term care facilities, according to the CDC.Īmong other things, tracking wasted doses helps to identify bottlenecks where distribution adjustments might be needed, said Dr. Overall, waste has been minuscule: As of March 30, the U.S. The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, which come in multidose vials, are fragile and have limited shelf lives. Public health experts say having a good handle on waste is crucial for detecting problems that could derail progress and risk lives. One thing is clear: Months into the nation’s vaccination drive, the CDC has a limited view of how much vaccine is going to waste, where it’s wasted and who is wasting it, potentially complicating efforts to direct doses to where they are needed most. Walgreens did not specify how many wasted doses were from the long-term care program. In response to questions, CVS said “nearly all” of its reported vaccine waste occurred during that effort. Some critics have pointed to poor planning early in the rollout, when the Trump administration leaned heavily on CVS and Walgreens to vaccinate residents and staff members of long-term care facilities. It’s not completely clear from the CDC data why the two chains wasted so much more vaccine than states and federal agencies. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |