Vaccine wastage: What is Canada doing about expiring COVID-19 doses?

Canadian provinces say COVID-19 vaccine wastage has been minimal so far, but experts are concerned not enough is being done to boost uptake.

With thousands of COVID-19 vaccine doses set to expire by the end of this month, the federal government and provinces are looking for ways to swiftly get them in people’s arms before they are forced to toss them out.

As of April 14, more than 14 million doses were sitting in the central vaccine inventory, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).

Among those, 429,450 doses of the Moderna vaccine will expire by the end of April, PHAC told Global News in an email on Tuesday.

Already, some 759,948 expired Moderna doses were wasted last month after expiring on March 21.

To minimize more wastage, the federal agency says it has a few options on its hands, including transferring doses between jurisdictions, donating vaccines and reviewing for any pending shelf life extensions.

Health Canada has revised expiration dates multiple times in the last year, as the companies that make the vaccines were able to get better data on how long the vaccines remained viable.

Pfizer’s shelf life was extended from six months to nine months last summer, and Moderna’s from seven months to nine months in December.

“If the shelf life of the doses cannot be extended, they will be disposed of appropriately,” PHAC said.