U.S. has thrown away 82M COVID-19 vaccine doses - NBC News
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From December 2020 through May 2022, more than 82M COVID-19 doses were discarded, NBC News reported, based on data from the CDC.
CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) (11.5M) and Walmart (NYSE:WMT) (10M) accounted for more than 25% of that amount. Walgreens (WBA) threw away 8.3M doses.
CDC data also showed that companies including DaVita (DVA), Rite Aid (RAD), and Costco (NASDAQ:COST) tossed over 25% of the doses they received, even though the total number was below that of Walmart (WMT) and CVS (CVS).
The 82M figure includes doses that expired, those that were rendered unusable when power went out or freezers broke, and some that were discorded from an opened vial. COVID vaccine comes in multi-dose vials and must be discarded after a few hours even if doses are left.
CDC data indicates that ~67% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated and ~47% has received a first booster.
Top vaccine makers: Moderna (MRNA), Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), BioNTech (BNTX)
There is ongoing debate as to whether additional booster shots are needed in a wider population, and if so, if they will be adapted to fight newer variants.