The Biden administration plans to ration shrinking COVID-19 funds, prioritizing the purchasing of treatments and the next generation of vaccines.
The administration will redirect about $5 billion in existing funds to buy new and updated COVID-19 vaccines as they become available and repurpose another $5 billion to purchase treatments such as Pfizer’s Paxlovid, an administration official told the Washington Post.
Still, the emergency rationing may not be enough to purchase enough vaccines for everyone in the event that a new one hits the market, another White House aide added. The Novavax vaccine, for instance, is expected to be granted authorization from the Food and Drug Administration this month.
The plan will mean cutting funding sources for producing and distributing diagnostic tests as well as stockpiling personal protective equipment, ventilators, and other medical supplies. It could also imperil planned government research into new vaccines and treatments for COVID-19. --->READ MORE HERE
More than 82 million COVID-19 vaccines, nearly 11% of distributed doses in the United States, have reportedly gone to waste from December 2020 through mid-May.
Most of the waste stemmed from expired vials that had sat on pharmacy shelves for too long, spoiled doses from broken-down freezer systems, and multidose vials that had been opened but not fully utilized, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data reported by NBC News.
About a quarter of all the vaccine waste reportedly stems from CVS and Walmart due to the number of doses they administered. Another quarter of the waste came from five other pharmacies and healthcare providers — Costco, Health Mart, DaVita, Rite Aid, and Publix — per the report.
“We often have to open a multidose vial at the end of the day for a single walk-in,” CVS told the outlet in a statement. “Those vials have a very limited shelf life, which unfortunately means unused vaccines will be disposed of. The same challenge is faced by others administering vaccinations." --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
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