Washington’s Department of Health is aiming to vaccinate 45,000 Washingtonians a day. However, there have been bumps in the road, including wasted vaccines.
According to a Pro-Publica investigation, In at least one Washington health clinic, Vaccine appointments ended with left over doses and with no one eligible to receive them.
Those left over vaccines were thrown out.
To reduce the possibility of wasted vaccines, Governor Inslee made a rule that clinics must use at least 95 percent of their doses within a week or lose out on doses the next go around.
Last week, according to the Department of Health, 39 providers across Washington state broke that rule.
“Unfortunately we have had to reduce vaccine orders because some providers are not meeting the states 95% rule.” said Michelle Roberts, acting assistant secretary of the Department of Health
Despite repeated requests from KHQ, DOH won’t identify the providers who didn’t meet the requirement.
They did tell us that while the data is not complete, they’re estimating that 2,000-plus doses have been wasted across the state.
DOH is well aware that any doses wasted is too many. To help prevent it, if there are leftover doses, They’re asking clinics to contact people who can come in on short notice. Even if those people are in a tier that’s not quite eligible.
