CVS & Walgreens Have Wasted Nearly 130,000 Vaccine Doses, According to Report

Tuesday, May 04, 2021
GoLocalWorcester News Team

A study published Monday by Kaiser Health News (KHN) says that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] recorded 182,874 wasted vaccine doses as of late March, three months into United States' effort to vaccinate people against the coronavirus. 

"Of those, CVS was responsible for nearly half, and Walgreens for 21%, or nearly 128,500 wasted shots combined," reports KHN. 

CDC data suggests that the companies have wasted more doses than states, U.S. territories and federal agencies combined. 

"Pfizer’s vaccine, which in December was the first to be deployed and initially required storage at ultracold temperatures, represented nearly 60% of tossed doses," KHN continued. 

CVS in Focus

"Some critics have pointed to poor planning early in the rollout, when the Trump administration leaned heavily on CVS and Walgreens to vaccinate residents and staff members of long-term care facilities," said KHN. "In response to questions, CVS said 'nearly all' of its reported vaccine waste occurred during that effort."

CVS, however, had been one of former President Donald Trump's biggest supporters. 

"CVS is one of the largest donors to President Donald Trump’s campaign, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal and federal campaign documents," GoLocal reported in 2018. "And a deeper dive by GoLocalProv.com finds that CVS has been funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars primarily to Republicans since the 2016 elections."

Vaccines in RI

As GoLocal reported Monday, hundreds of colleges across the country are requiring their students to be fully vaccinated in order to return to campus to take in classroom instruction in the fall.

Locally, Brown and Roger Williams Universities have already mandated it as has the University of Massachusetts system, but not Rhode Island’s public college system.

There are no plans to require students to be vaccinated -- as experts consistently recommend college students do so, less for the impact on the students, and more for how they have proven to be spreaders to their parents and grandparents during breaks. 

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