The Ministry of Public Health reported that about 354.240 vaccines against Covid-19 have expired in the country, which represents a loss rate of 1.4%.

Deputy Minister of Collective Health, Dr. Aldio Perez, said in a press conference for the agency that the majority Compatible with the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca which expired on different dates.

And although Dr. Perez could not determine how much money would be lost with expired doses, he emphasized that in previous years, specifically from 2015, there were losses of more than 14%, and therefore the current percentage does not represent a significant loss.

“At the time of your request, we estimate a loss of 10%, an estimate that came from previous days of vaccination with other types of biological material,” explained the Deputy Minister of Collective Health.

“When we compare expired doses internationally, we can see that there are countries like the United States that have more than 15 million expired doses, and other countries are Spain, Guatemala, Nigeria, Congo, and the United Kingdom, among others,” he added. .

Likewise said The next batch of vaccines will expire in March and will be disposed of if they are not used in the country or are not donated.

Perez reported that more than 9 million vaccines are available and that more than 70% will expire in 2023 and called on the population to be vaccinated.

“The thing to remember is that we have the capacity and availability to vaccinate. Vaccination is not a strategy to mitigate the impact of an epidemic, but vaccination is a means of prevention,” he said.

The Vice President of the Republic, Raquel Peña, said last Tuesday Contacts have been made with other countries And that the state would be in a position to donate it in case other governments so requested.