(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) Sweden has discarded nearly 8.5 million doses of vaccines
against COVID-19, local media reported on Sunday, trend reports citing
xinhua .
The discarded doses equal to about 20 percent of vaccine doses
Sweden has procured, according to Swedish Public Health Agency's
statistics, Radio Sweden reported.
Richard Bergstrom, Sweden's former national vaccine coordinator,
told Radio Sweden that the total value of the discarded doses was
1.5 billion Swedish kronor (143 million U.S. dollars).
The main reason for doses being discarded was the fact that
individuals had not had their booster doses as expected, Bergstrom
explained.
'The bulk is doses that people have chosen not to take, in other
words, the third, fourth, or fifth (booster) dose. These were
already purchased and now have to be destructed,' said
Bergstrom.
As of Thursday, 88.2 percent of all individuals aged 18 or over
have received at least one dose, while 86.4 percent have received
two doses or more, Swedish Public Health Agency's statistics
show.
Addressing the global COVID-19 vaccine disparity already in
2021, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus said that six times more COVID-19 boosters were
administered a day globally than primary doses in low-income
countries. Countries with the highest vaccine coverage 'continue to
stockpile more vaccines,' while 'low-income countries continue to
wait' for the shots -- 'a scandal that must stop now.'
Comments
No comment