Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 5) — Health Secretary Francisco Duque on Tuesday reported that the country’s COVID-19 vaccine wastage rate is at 1.54%, which he said is “far below” the World Health Organization’s 10% indicative wastage rate.
Of the total 244.5 million doses secured by the Philippines, Duque said some 3.76 million have been wasted.
“This is far, far below than the 10% indicative wastage rate used by the WHO…So, ang layo (It’s very far). We’re still okay,” the secretary said.
Duque noted that fewer people showing up in inoculation sites is among the reasons for the wastage. He added some vials delivered have lower content than the prescribed volume and cannot be used while others are already beyond shelf life. There were also particles found in a number of vaccines, and some were destroyed by fire or typhoon.
Meanwhile, President Rodrigo Duterte responded to those criticizing the government for the 27 million doses – pegged at over ₱13 billion – that are set to expire in July. Authorities, he said, shouldn’t be blamed for the continued vaccine hesitancy among several Filipinos.
“Hindi naman kasalanan ng gobyerno na magbili tayo [It’s not the government’s fault that we bought supply] commensurate to the number of Filipinos that would be vaccinated sana [ideally],” Duterte said.
According to officials, most of the soon-to-expire doses were either donated by other countries, or were procured by the private sector and local government units. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire earlier said the government is now finalizing plans to donate some of these shots to Myanmar and Papua New Guinea.
The President also said authorities could do a house-to-house vaccination as a “last-minute” strategy to use up the supply. Duque said some local governments have already begun doing this, particularly to inoculate disabled senior citizens.
