Germany may have to discard 3 million COVID-19 vaccine doses by the end of June if they are not used before they expire, the country’s health ministry announced Monday.
Ministry spokesman Hanno Kautz said the number of vaccines that could be discarded has declined from a previous estimate of 10 million because the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine can be stored longer than initially expected.
The country still has more COVID-19 vaccines than it can use or donate, Kautz said, and COVAX, the United Nations-backed program to distribute shots to poorer countries, is not currently accepting donations.
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Kautz also said “not many doses” have been destroyed so far but could not give a specific number.
A total of 175,263 cases of COVID-19 were reported in Germany on April 8. Nearly 64 million Germans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, with around 63 million fully vaccinated, according to the World Health Organization.
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COVAX is directed by the GAVI vaccine alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and WHO, with the U.N. Children’s Fund serving as a key partner. GAVI has not yet responded to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
