31.3 million vaccines have been wasted by the government according to Sen. Pia Cayetano and cited its shorts lifespan and natural calamities as some of the reasons.
The Philippines wasted over 31 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines worth P15.6 billion, the Department of Health (DOH) disclosed on Thursday, November 19.
Senator Pia Cayetano revealed the numbers, citing the DOH, during the Senate plenary session on the proposed 2023 national budget and offered various reasons for the wastage.
"One of the reasons for the expiration was because some of the COVAX funded vaccines we received have really short lifespan," CNN Philippines quoted Cayetano.
"And then there were also those that were subject to natural disasters, there were those that were subject to temperature excursion...There's such a thing as under-dosing."
The figure is roughly 12 percent of the 250.38 million doses received and procured by the country, according to the DOH.
The estimated amount was set only at P500 per vaccine dose, adding that the DOH is not also aware of the actual cost per vial.
Senator Risa Hontiveros pointed out that the vaccine wastage reported by the DOH in August was only 20.66 million, or 8.42 percent worth around P10.33 billion, in a recent Inquirer report.
Cayetano then clarified that the vaccine wastage did not increase rapidly in a span of three months.
"What happened was they did a complete inventory at saka nila natuklasan na nandun sa mga kaduluduluhan ng mga warehouse (and they found out that there were still vaccines in warehouses)...What happened was we now have a more accurate inventory,” said Cayetano.
Hontiveros, who was also present at the plenary, then asked if the World Health Organization (WHO) already changed the set threshold of vaccine wastage at 10 percent, GMA News online reported.
But Cayetano said this was only an initial ceiling set by the WHO and that in low-income, middle-income and even the high-income countries' wastage rate went up to 30 percent, which forced the governing body to set the acceptable rate for wasted vaccine doses to 25 percent.
Tags: #COVID19, #pandemic, #vaccine