Pvt vax centre in Pune dumps 800 expired doses of Covishield: IMA

IMA members said this may be 1st recorded instance of bulk vax wastage

- Umesh Isalkar

Pune: A private vaccination centre at Kasarwadi in Pimpri Chinchwad was forced to discard 800 Covishield doses after vials crossed the expiry date, members of the Indian Medical Association confirmed on Thursday.

The members said the incident may be the first recorded instance of preventable bulk vaccine wastage and added many more such cases are likely if the government does not address the issue of large unused reserves at private hospitals.

The IMA had earlier estimated that as many as 50 lakh Covishield doses are likely to be wasted across private hospitals in the country due to their imminent expiry dates. Free jabs at government centres have severely cut turnouts at private hospitals and concerns are now growing around the large reserves.