Disposal of 8,886 Doses of COVID-19 Vaccine... 86% Due to Storage Temperature Deviations

Pfizer vaccines are stored in a vaccine-only refrigerator at a vaccination center. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@ [This is a stock photo not directly related to the article.]

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] A total of 8,886 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been discarded so far, of which 86.2% (7,667 doses) were discarded due to deviations from the proper vaccine storage temperature.

According to the 'COVID-19 Vaccine Disposal Status' disclosed by Shin Hyun-young, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, a total of 8,886 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been discarded from February 26, when COVID-19 vaccinations began, until the 1st of this month.

The main reason for vaccine disposal was temperature deviation, accounting for 7,667 doses (86.2%). This was followed by ▲vaccine container damage (956 doses, 10.8%) ▲expiration of validity period (120 doses, 1.4%) ▲errors during the vaccination process (113 doses, 1.4%) ▲expiration of usable time (30 doses, 0.3%).

Regarding temperature deviations, more than 1,000 doses were discarded at medical clinics (2,935 doses), hospitals (2,340 doses), and nursing hospitals (1,240 doses). In particular, among vaccination institutions, vaccination centers had the fewest discarded doses at 1,080 doses, of which 95.6%, or 1,032 doses, were discarded due to vaccine temperature deviations.

By month, June, when vaccine introduction and vaccinations became full-scale, saw the highest number of vaccine disposals. In June alone, 4,380 doses (49.3%) were discarded. Including May's 2,588 doses (29.10%), a total of 6,968 doses (78.4%) were discarded over these two months.

Among the discarded vaccines, AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccines accounted for the largest number at 7,620 doses. In particular, 6,540 doses were discarded solely due to vaccine storage temperature deviations. Other discarded vaccines included ▲Pfizer 1,146 doses ▲Janssen 90 doses ▲Moderna 30 doses.

Assembly member Shin Hyun-young stated, “Despite having pointed out issues with the vaccine cold chain distribution and temperature deviations in medical institutions' vaccine refrigerators during last year's flu vaccine incident, improvements have been insufficient,” and emphasized, “As large-scale vaccinations will proceed in the third quarter, attention must be paid to minimizing disposal amounts by carefully managing vaccine refrigerator temperatures, distribution storage, and injection container safety.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.