Covid-19 vaccines: 15.1 million doses thrown away since March 1 in US

At least 15.1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine were thrown away since March 1 in the US, at a time when there is a global shortage of vaccines which in turn is leading to deaths in a poor country

At least 15.1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine were thrown away since March 1 in the United States, at a time when there is a global shortage of vaccines which in turn is leading to deaths in a poor country.

According to NBC, pharmacies and state governments in the United States have thrown away at least 15.1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines since March 1.

Four national pharmacy chains reported more than 1 million wasted doses each, according to data released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in response to a public records request. Walgreens reported the most waste of any pharmacy, state or other vaccine provider, with nearly 2.6 million wasted doses. CVS reported 2.3 million wasted doses, while Walmart reported 1.6 million and Rite Aid reported 1.1 million.

The data released by the CDC is self-reported by pharmacies, states, and other vaccine providers. It is not comprehensive -- missing some states and federal providers -- and it does not include the reason doses had to be thrown away.

While wealthy nations are inoculating their citizens at fast pacing rates and also moving towards booster doses, poorer countries are lagging drastically behind in the race to get vaccinated.

Many developing countries also cannot afford the vaccines for their residents and looked to donations from richer countries, but global initiatives have not been entirely successful in supplying shots to those who need it.

The World Health Organization asked world leaders again to hold off on administering Covid-19 boosters for at least another month to give poorer nations the chance to inoculate more of their populations with first doses.

More than 5 billion Covid vaccine shots have been administered globally, with 75% of them administered in just 10 countries, according to the WHO.