Karnataka, one of the first states to record negative COVID-19 vaccine wastage, is now seeing a wastage of 2.09%. As many as 4,35,828 doses have been wasted from May 1, 2021, till April 8, 2022, according to data from the State Health Department.
Officials said the wastage swelled up following the roll out of Corbevax vaccine for children aged 12-14 years on March 16. Corbevax is a 20-dose vial and most of the time it is not being used up after opening within the prescribed four-hour time limit due to vaccine hesitancy among parents .
Vaccine usage is calculated as the proportion of vaccines administered out of the total vaccines allotted. After COVID-19 vaccination was rolled out in January last year, initially a vaccine wastage of nearly 7% was being reported. However, by July 23, 2021 this turned into ‘negative wastage’ of -2.23% thereby adding a total of 1,75,165 doses to the assigned stock in vaccination centres. State health officials had attributed this to meticulous micro planning of the vaccine sessions and efficient vaccine administration.
