The number of wasted vaccine doses is skyrocketing. The Directorate General of Health (DGS) informed Le Parisien, this Thursday, May 5, that 3.6 million doses of AstraZeneca were thrown away by France because they expired in May.
When the West overconsumes vaccine doses
“A Problem of the Rich”estimates Le Parisien, which revealed that several European countries have massively stored anti-Covid vaccines and then throw them away.
Vaccines from Moderna and AstraZeneca are in turmoil, but Pfizer is also adding to the wasteful players. More than 240 million doses of Covid vaccine had to be put in the trash, where 73% of the expired doses belonged to Pfizer and 18% to AstraZeneca. In March, 218,000 doses of the Swedish-British pharmaceutical group had already been destroyed.
See also: Covid 19: the impressive waste of vaccine doses around the world
Millions of euros had however been poured by the rich countries to make sure to carry out a complete vaccination of their population. Some, like Denmark, had “bought all possible vaccines” in order to ensure that its population can be vaccinated, as revealed by the Statens Serum Institut (SSI). In this regard, 1.1 million doses of Moderna in Denmark, perishable in May, will also be thrown in the trash.
“There was a panic from governments who over-ordered vaccines to make sure they had enough, but in their defense, it was very complicated to estimate the precise number of doses needed”explains the economist Nathalie Coutinet to the Parisian.
Add to this the agreement established between the European Union and Pfizer-BioNtech, in which “1.8 billion additional doses for all Member States between 2021 and 2023” were going to be reserved for the European population, according to a press release from the EU Health Commission of May 20, 2021. What about the differences within the European Union itself, when one of its members will deliver to a real “legal battle” against the Pfizer laboratory?
See also: Poland will no longer buy or pay for the Covid vaccine
Due to the trend observed in the rate of use of vaccines, and for fear of a potential “epidemic rebound”, governments bought injections not knowing what to do with them. A document from the DGS dated April 28 provides in this regard: “We therefore advise you to order the necessary number and inject them quickly, in order to avoid building up a used stock”.
The failure of the Covax device in Africa
The Covax system, aimed at ensuring equitable access to vaccination around the world, is bogged down. The World Health Organization’s goal of vaccinating nearly 70% of the African population “by June 2022” is struggling to be achieved. With “only 15% of the population vaccinated”Africa is reticent about the global vaccine strategy.
Some African states even believe that the epidemic period is over. The expert African epidemiologist Yap Boum confirms this: “Are vaccines available? Yes, and in quantity! The deal has exchange”. Also representative in Africa of Epicenter, an organization created by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), he adds that “every African has an epidemiologist in his pocket. He sees that there are far fewer cases, far fewer deaths… And that does not encourage him to get vaccinated”.
As Le Parisien points out, many doses planned by Covax have not found buyer countries. In France, there are 2.3 million doses that have not been delivered “lack of recipient countries”as detailed by the Directorate General of Health to CheckNews at the end of December 2021. To this is also added a batch of 1.3 million doses of AstraZeneca, “because of the withdrawal of a receiving country”recalls the newspaper.
The pressure is at its peak for France, which could well see its balance sheet increase. The Parisian announces in fact that the country ordered 32 million doses of vaccine in March and April combined, having only achieved nearly “two million” injections, mainly “reminders” to its population.
See also: The deleterious effects associated with the SARS-CoV-2 virus or induced by vaccines: Jean-Marc Sabatier
One of the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine experts, Dr. Offit, brings up the term “booster mania”for which the laboratories act as “public health agencies”. According to him, “we don’t do things the way we normally do, which is science precedes recommendation. Here it’s the other way around”.