A government report released on Friday indicated that the Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination programme in England saw an estimated wastage of around 4.7 million doses by the end of October 2021.
National Audit Office in the report about the rollout of the programme said among the jabs that were thrown away, 1.9 million doses were unused after changes to clinical advice about the AstraZeneca vaccine.
In May 2021, Britain’s vaccine advisory body, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, issued advice to the government that those aged under 40 should preferably not be offered AstraZeneca.
Following this, the vaccination programme faced “a particular challenge” regarding expiring supplies of the AstraZeneca vaccine, according to the report.
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The four per cent of total supply came lower than the 15 per cent to 20 per cent that the vaccine programme initially assumed, the office said.
By the end of October 2021, 85 per cent of people aged 18 and over in England had received two COVID-19 vaccine doses.
The programme had spent 5.6 billion pounds out of 8.3 billion pounds of total funding slated for two years which ends in March 2022, said the report. (Xinhua/NAN)
