Hundreds of thousands of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been thrown away since the rollout began earlier this year.
Channel 3 has learned nearly $15 million worth of vaccine has been thrown away in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and North Carolina simply because no one wanted to take it before it expired a month after it was unfrozen.
"Now that we have it, we hope not to waste it," said Dr. Gary Voccio, the health director for the Northwest Georgia Health District. "The vaccines are safe, they have been in place and have been researched for decades."
More than 737,000 vaccines have expired in those four states since the rollout began. At an estimated cost of $19.50 per dose, the price tag for taxpayers has grown in recent months. About 30% of those expired vaccines have been wasted since Channel 3 first asked for that data from state health departments about two months ago, totaling over $4 million in lost.
"If we have vaccines that we think we're not going to use, should we just give it as a booster?' said Voccio. "That's a big question that epidemiologists and physicians in the healthcare industry are looking at now."
Only about 40% of people in those four states are fully-vaccinated.
Federal dollars have been used to purchase COVID-19 vaccines since the rollout began. The vaccines wasted account for about 2% of the total vaccines distributed to those four states.
A sign of the state of the pandemic, health experts say, as they eye more federal funding to handle the crisis years down the road.
"So when we see this, I interpret that as meaning even the CDC recognizes we're in for the long haul with this," said Voccio. "Get a vaccine after you've been informed. That's how we hope to do this, one arm at a time."
To find a COVID-19 vaccine in your area, click here.
