The U.S. has wasted at least 15.1 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from March through August, a problem fueled by the use of multidose vials, NBC News reported Sept. 23.
Most vaccines in the U.S. are distributed in prefilled syringes or single-dose vials, but COVID-19 vaccines were rolled out in multidose vials because they needed to be manufactured rapidly during the early months of the country's vaccination campaign. The multidose vials hold up to 15 doses for Moderna, six for Pfizer, and five for Johnson & Johnson.
Though the multidose vials streamlined manufacturing, they also made COVID-19 vaccines more vulnerable to waste.
More than a third of the COVID-19 vaccines wasted from March through August were wasted in increments smaller than a full vial, according to CDC data. The 15.1 million figure reported by the CDC is an undercount, as the agency's data doesn't include vaccines wasted by several states and large federal agencies.
Healthcare workers across the country shared stories of vaccine waste resulting from multidose vials with NBC News. They said they sometimes find themselves in situations where they open a vial for one patient's vaccination and then are unable to find any other recipients for the rest of the shots in the vial before they expire.
"Is now the time to rethink packaging? For the U.S. market, I think so,” Prashant Yadav, PhD, an healthcare supply chain expert and senior fellow at the nonprofit think tank Center for Global Development, told NBC News.
At least two states, Kentucky and Pennsylvania, have asked the federal government to deliver COVID-19 vaccines in smaller vials so they can avoid waste. HHS said it is working with drugmakers to reduce the number of doses included in each vial and the number of vials per package, a spokesperson told NBC News.