Almost 15,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine expire in Negros Occidental
A total of 14,920 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine have expired in Negros Occidental on Tuesday (November 30).
Local officials have reported to the Department of Health (DOH) office in Western Visayas via regional director Adriano Suba-an, who would also forward their findings to a national task force for the management of emerging infectious diseases.
Dr. Claudelia Josefa Pabillo, in charge of the Provincial Health Office's cold room facility, penned the incident report.
“We value our vaccines. We want to use them. We do not delay, but we value more the vaccinees. We don’t want to inject vaccines that are about to expire,” Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II told reporters.
He pointed out that, as the expiration date approaches, the vaccine's efficacy diminishes, thus giving it might offer the receiver a false sense of security and potentially put the vaccinee and his or her family at risk.
Diaz went on to say that even vaccines that were due to expire had been rejected by local government entities.
Pabillo, on the other hand, said that the expired vaccines were among the 45,300 doses of vaccines that arrived in Negros Occidental on November 8.
While the province was able to use up the majority of this particular batch, the rest remain undistributed because of its nearing expiration date.
Some local government units (LGUs) were hesitant to accept them because they had more brands to choose from.
There are still some expired vaccines in the cold storage area, but they have been isolated from the other vaccines.
“We can’t throw these out because these are biological products. There is a different method for its disposal,” she added.
Ana Catalina Paje is a development journalist passionate about grassroots communication geared towards genuine social change. She also writes about showbiz, lifestyle, and all things Pinoy pride. The views expressed are her own.
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