The Department of Health (DOH) reported that 1.54 percent of the total number of Covid-19 vaccines delivered in the country have gone to waste.
DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III said that the figure is "far below" the indicative wastage rate of the World Health Organization (WHO) which is at 10 percent.
“Our actual vaccine wastage is only 1.54 percent. That is the allowable wastage rate as of April 3 this year which is far, far below than the 10 percent indicative wastage rate used by the WHO, Mr. President. So ang layo (It is still far). We’re still okay," said Duque during the "Talk to the People" program of President Duterte aired on Tuesday, April 5.
A total of 244,506,480 vaccine doses were delivered to the Philippines, of this figure, 3,760,983 have been wasted, based on the presentation of Duque.
Among the reasons for wastage is that few people showed up in vaccination sites, some vials have "lower content" than the prescribe volume, some vaccines are already beyond their shelf life, there are also "particles" present in some vaccines, while some were destroyed due to fire or typhoon, said Duque.
The Health chief also acknowledged the issue about the 27 million vaccine doses that are set to expire in July.
"Iyon pong sinasabi nilang 25 to 27 million na mage-expire by July, ang tawag po natin diyan ‘yung theoretical expiration. Hindi pa po ito expired kasi July pa yan, magagamit pa rin po natin yan (The ones they are saying of about 25 to 27 million that will expire by July, we call that the theoretical expiration. It hasn't expired yet as it's still July, we can still use that)," he said.
Some of the actions that the government is doing to avoid vaccine wastage is that it continues to "request for shelf life extension," said Duque.
He also said that both the national and local government units continue "to intensify vaccination activities and expand sites where vaccines can be made available."
"We encouraged everyone to get vaccinated and get boosted once eligible, especially the A2 (senior citizens) and A3 (people with comorbidities)," said Duque.