The lack of cohesive waste reporting requirements has given the facilities that provide COVID-19 vaccines little incentive to acknowledge vaccines that have been wasted, according to a Jan. 21 ProPublica report.
Waste reporting is an important part of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout because it encourages cautious handling and the use of every available dose. It's also essential because it identifies potential issues in shipping and cold storage operations that need to be addressed.
The CDC requires all facilities that administer COVID-19 vaccines to report how many doses "were unused, spoiled, expired or wasted as required by the relevant jurisdiction,” and it also asked states to explain their waste monitoring procedures during vaccine distribution planning.
Facilities that administer COVID-19 vaccines are supposed to report data on wasted doses to state public health agencies, which will then be sent to the CDC. However, not every state has established a system to collect vaccine waste data, ProPublica reported.
State health officials and public health experts told ProPublica that the amount of wasted COVID-19 doses is largely unknown because vaccine providers in many states have not received clear communication on how to go about tracking unused or wasted doses, and those providers that have been told about the reporting process do not face enforcement of these mandates.
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