90,000 Covid vaccines 'wasted' in Scotland in just four months

Those campaigning for teachers to be offered Covid vaccines say the wasted vaccines could have been used to limit transmission in schools

At least 90,000 Covid vaccines have been binned in Scotland in the past four months, it has been revealed.

New figures show 90,621 doses of Covid vaccines were logged as “wastage” by the NHS between 4 September and 15 January.

However, the data does not include wasted vaccines in GP practices – meaning this number “may be an underestimate”.

The Scottish Government says around 40,000 of these wasted vaccines were down to fewer people coming forward to get one than last winter.

This figures emerged amid a campaign to have all teachers offered a Covid vaccine to stop high levels of transmission in schools.

Currently teachers are only offered a flu vaccine on the NHS. There are currently 54,033 full-time equivalent teachers in Scotland.

One Glasgow teacher now says these wasted vaccines could have been given to teachers who wanted them instead.

The teacher is off work until the end of January as he is suffering “severe” symptoms from a coronavirus infection contracted on 17 December.

He said: “I was shocked, I thought there would be a few hundred, but 90,000 is a lot.

“The government might argue there are 14 health boards so that is only 50 a day, but it all adds up.

“I was very disappointed not to be offered a vaccine because now I have contracted it and chances are it was at work, because schools are areas of high transmission.

“You never know, if I had been vaccinated maybe I would have recovered quicker.

“If the government wanted to roll the vaccines out further they could, because there are 90,000 vaccines and there are 54,000 teachers.”

Opposition parties in Holyrood are now urging the Scottish Government to do more to make sure no vaccines are wasted unnecessarily.

Dame Jackie Baillie, deputy leader of Scottish Labour, said: “With Covid remaining a health risk for many and a challenge to our NHS, it is deeply concerning to see that thousands of vaccines have been logged as wastage.

“The government must act to both encourage uptake and ensure that there are sufficient supplies of the vaccine so that everyone who requires a vaccine, gets a vaccine.”

Leader of the Scottish Lib Dems Alex Cole-Hamilton added those who have elderly relatives or those who have weddings and holidays coming up may have liked to have had one of the vaccines that has ended up in the bin.

He said: “It is disappointing that thousands of Covid boosters were effectively binned when there were those who could have benefited from them.

“If nothing else, the presence of people suffering from Covid and requiring hospital attention compounds the pressures on the NHS during its busiest time of year, so if there are spare doses it makes sense to use them.

“While it is right that the booster programme focuses on those most at risk, for those with elderly relatives or who have significant life events like weddings or holidays, the option to pick up a booster might have been welcomed.”

The Scottish Government says around 50,000 Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were destroyed after the JCVI (joint committee on vaccination and immunisation) recommended a new vaccine was used instead.

The committee said the new vaccine is better placed to respond to the most prevalent strain of the virus.

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: “This winter we’ve delivered more than 1,384,40 Covid-19 vaccines.

“Guided by the independent expert advice given by the JCVI, a change was made to introduce the new XBB.1.5 vaccines to respond to the most prevalent strain of Covid-19.

“A decision was made to dispose of around 50,000 doses of Pfizer and Moderna BA.4-5 vaccines that were no longer going to be used and that were approaching their mandatory expiry date.

“The remainder of the waste is due to a drop in people coming forward for their Covid-19 vaccines, compared to the previous winter.”