Across the U.S., pharmacies, including CVS, Walmart and Rite Aid to name a few, have been stuck with disposing of excess COVID-19 shots, as fewer people line up to take them.
The amounts being thrown away are staggering: 82.2 million doses between December 2020 and mid-May 2022. Oklahoma and Alaska pitched the highest percentage of those doses. The waste has left infectious diseases persons aghast “when less than half of fully vaccinated Americans have a booster shot,” NBC News reported.
Walgreens, which threw away 8.3 million doses, blamed it on “no-show appointments, cancellations and open vials expiring.”
SOURCE:
NBC News June 6, 2022