Most unused COVID-19 vaccines will expire at the end of the year: auditor general

Most unused COVID-19 vaccines will expire at the end of the year: auditor generalOTTAWA — Tens of millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccines are likely about to expire and go to waste because of a failure to manage an oversupply, Canada's auditor general reported Tuesday — a failure with an estimated price tag of about $1 billion. The government knew that by signing advanced purchase agreements with a number of pharmaceutical companies there was a risk it may end up buying more COVID-19 vaccines than Canadians needed. There were also 32.5 million doses in federal and provincial inventories by the end of the audit period in May, worth about $1 billion, based on the auditor's estimate. Duclos said as of Dec. 1, about 10.8 million vaccine doses of all varieties have been destroyed or allowed to expire within Canada. Duclos said he welcomes the auditor's call to fully implement the VaccineConnect program and expedite work to complete the national health data strategy.