Nigeria's loss of 1 million COVID-19 vaccines due to expiry is the single largest case of vaccine loss.

Nigeria's 1 million COVID-19 vaccine dose loss is among other similar losses worldwide. But, whether they occurred consecutively is unclear.

Nigeria's 1 million COVID-19 vaccine dose loss is among other similar losses worldwide. But, whether they occurred consecutively is unclear.Amid the surging demands for COVID-19 vaccination doses in several countries due to the increased risk of new variants such as Omicron, wastage of doses is also being widely reported. However, experts note that a certain amount of vaccine wastage is expected due to the complexity of different countries' immunization campaigns.

A report from Reuters highlighted that up to 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have expired in Nigeria in November 2021. Reportedly, it is one of the largest losses of vaccine doses in a single month. The main reason for this is the short shelf-life of the vaccines. They were donated to African countries nearing their expiry dates in large numbers. Logistical issues, insufficient staffing, and resources to facilitate the availability and administration of doses to the public culminated in the loss of those 1 million doses within a month.

There has been a cumulative wastage of about 15.1 million doses in the U.S. ever since the vaccine rollout began in early 2021, according to The New York Times and NBC News reports published in August and September this year. Reasons for wastage include breakage of vials, storage, transportation, expiry dates, and prepared vials being disposed of due to people not showing up to their vaccination appointments. According to CTV News, an informal survey from Canada stated that at least 1 million doses were disposed of due to expiry, among other reasons, since late December 2020.

According to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, the U.K threw away more than 600,000 AstraZeneca doses in August after they expired, as excess doses were not donated, according to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, reported Yahoo News. In India, a Right to Information (RTI) response revealed in April 2021 that 4.6 million doses were wasted since the vaccine rollout began in January, according to a Business Insider report. According to India's health ministry, The Hindu reported, between May and July, about 249,000 doses were wasted. The reasons for this wastage have not been specified in any recent reports. Similarly, Japan has also suspended the use of about 1 million doses of the Moderna vaccine in August 2021 after contamination due to manufacturing issues, resulting in wastage, The Japan Times reported in October.

Logically concludes this claim is partly true as there are countries other than Nigeria that have wasted more doses if we consider the cumulative numbers over the entire period of the global COVID-19 vaccine rollout and factor in reasons other than expiry.

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