“No-need” leads to Vaccine Waste

Courtesy of Envato Elements

by Jeff Viray

The Ontario Government has wasted about 3.4 million Covid-19 vaccine doses. That is 9% of the vaccines it received from the federal government, according the Provincial Auditor’s  annual report.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford watches a vaccine dose be administered at a mass vaccination clinic earlier this year. Courtesy of CTV News

Thirty-eight per cent of the vaccine doses were wasted between the months of February and June of this year. The auditor, Bonnie Lysyk, says this was because there was much less demand for booster shots than the province originally anticipated.

For one Seneca student, Anis, the reason was time.  Anis has had three doses,  but he says he doesn’t have the time to get a fourth, and,  “I don’t want to.”

“The recovery takes too long and for me, I don’t want that.”

This is a sentiment others share.

Noah and Rohan, another pair of Seneca students, felt that they didn’t need it and the idea of the booster wasn’t their top priority.

Noah said, “it wasn’t more that I didn’t need it, but it just escaped my mind.”

Now with things opening back up again and a feeling that we are headed back to pre-pandemic days, Noah says getting the vaccine is just something easily forgotten.

The Auditor also reports that Ontario’s disorganized rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine led to waste as well. The Ministry of Health’s way to book vaccinations led to Ontarians booking multiple appointments, leading to plenty of no-shows.

The Ontario government spent $1.5 billion on the Covid-19 vaccine rollout.

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