For lack of takers in Canada, but also abroad, the federal government has seen more than 22 million doses of vaccine against COVID-19 wasted, noted The duty. The majority of these expired doses were thrown away because they could not be distributed in time to the world’s poorest countries, to whom the COVAX vaccine-sharing alliance offered them too late and without the organization necessary to ensure the success of this redistribution, deplores an expert on the issue.
At the start of the pandemic, the race for vaccines proved to be merciless in rich countries, which sought to obtain doses of vaccine at all costs. Over the months, however, many of these vials reached their expiration date and had to be disposed of.
In Canada, nearly 8.9 million doses had been ordered to vaccinate Canadians, but “which expired in central federal stocks”, revealed to the To have to the Federal Ministry of Health. Of the approximately 140 million doses of vaccine received in Canada since the start of the pandemic, just over 6% have therefore been lost.
The Canadian government also dipped into its reserves and offered more than 50 million doses that it considered surplus to COVAX. Of these, 21.7 million were distributed to countries in need, but 13.6 million doses of vaccine could not be used and ended up in the trash — 27% of the shared stock. from COVAX. In addition, 14.7 million doses are still awaiting requests from less well-off countries, for which COVAX collects and coordinates the supply of vaccines.
The DD Joanne Liu, a professor in the School of Population and Global Health at McGill University and former president of Doctors Without Borders, has been demanding since last year — and from the very beginning of supplies to countries rich in million doses of vaccine — that these injections be shared upstream with countries in need. “I predicted for a year that there would be massive casualties. And that’s what’s happening today, ”she said in an interview.
A tendency to avoid
The World Health Organization estimates the average vaccine wastage rate at 5% for a one-dose vaccination campaign and 10% for campaigns of two to five doses. The United States sent 82.1 million doses of vaccine to the trash between December 2020 and mid-May 2022, or 11% of its reserves distributed to pharmacies and vaccination establishments, revealed the Centers for Prevention and Fight against diseases to the NBC network this summer.
“When you have a product like this, which is limited in volume, you should have as little loss as possible,” insists the DD Liu, who has worked for MSF in Africa during natural disasters or viral epidemics such as Ebola. “You shouldn’t accept the normal, and you shouldn’t normalize the normal. »
The Federal Ministry of Health explains, by e-mail, that vaccines “are a biological product and [que] their shelf life is therefore limited”. “Despite efforts to ensure good supply management and good stewardship of assets, vaccines will be lost as they expire before they can be used in Canada or before they can be donated, and these Vaccines should be disposed of according to proper handling and storage guidelines,” Health Canada spokeswoman Anna Maddison wrote in mid-September.
The figure may also have increased since then, as the Federal Reserve still had 1.2 million doses expiring in September. And 1.35 million doses have an expiry date during the month of October.
Too late an offer and little demand
To support countries in need, Canada donated 50 million of its vaccine doses to COVAX, but also donated enough money to purchase and deliver an additional 87 million doses.
“Currently, global production and dose donations from high-income countries exceed the administrative capacities and demand of low- and middle-income countries,” Mr.me Maddison of Health Canada. A situation also experienced by the other countries contributing to COVAX, she noted.
The DD Liu is not surprised. She criticizes the donor countries to COVAX for having taken too long to share their fortune. Result: community contamination and the arrival of new variants more resistant to first-generation vaccines have reduced the appetite for the vaccine, both in poor countries and in those of the G7. Just over 82% of Canadians received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, but only 13% went for a second booster dose.
“We can clearly see that there is a question of timing, which is the same in COVAX beneficiary countries. The human is human”, observes the DD Liu. “The threat is there: we want to be protected. The threat is less: at some point, this priority recedes because things change. Rich countries like Canada should have shipped their excess doses to COVAX much sooner, knowing full well that millions more were still expected.
The emergency pediatrician also criticizes the COVAX alliance for only being concerned with the supply of vaccines without preparing their distribution in the field, their administration by professionals and campaigns to encourage vaccination in advance. And for not having consulted the beneficiary countries from the outset to understand their needs and coordinate everything. “What was COVAX’s mistake was that initially everyone crystallized the issue around supply. »