At least 215 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been thrown away by European Union (EU) countries during the pandemic, costing taxpayers around four billion euros, according to an analysis by Politico. Since the first coronavirus vaccines were approved in late 2020, EU countries have received a total of 1.5 billion doses, which is more than three doses for every European citizen, on Monday, the 18th of December, reports Politico.
Calculations based on available data show that EU countries have thrown away an average of 0.7 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine per capita. Estonia has the highest number of vaccine doses thrown away per capita at 1.10, closely followed by Germany with 0.98 doses. If this average waste rate were applied to the whole EU,
the total number of thrown away vaccines would exceed 312 million.
Politico writes that determining the exact number of discarded COVID-19 vaccines is difficult because many governments are reluctant to disclose the amount of waste. Politico based its calculations on data from 19 European countries, including direct data from 15 countries and local media reports from four countries, suggesting that at least 215 million doses of vaccines have been thrown away. These figures are considered modest, and the actual number of vaccines thrown away over time is likely to be much higher.
Politico estimates that the value of discarded doses of COVID-19 vaccines exceeds four billion euros.
This estimate is based on the prices of vaccines reported in the media, as the actual prices are not publicly disclosed. In cases where countries only provided the total number of vaccines discarded without specifying the types of vaccines, Politico used a weighted average price of 19.39 euros calculated from the data of the countries that provided the data.
Many COVID-19 vaccines were purchased during the peak of the pandemic in 2021. The vaccines were purchased in a context of uncertainty and supply constraints, with the EU’s landmark Pfizer-BioNTech contract for 1.1 billion doses particularly criticised.
The size and timing of the deal created a number of problems
as countries were forced to make purchases even after the pandemic had subsided. Countries also failed to donate surplus vaccines due to reduced demand and logistical barriers.
The European Commission (EC) renegotiated the contract because of problems with surplus vaccines, which led to legal problems for countries such as Poland and Hungary over their refusal to pay Pfizer.
The revised contract requires European countries to buy vaccines until at least 2027, with not only financial consequences but also long-term problems.
Although four billion euros seems a small sum, Politico writes that it is equivalent to a major infrastructure project or Croatia’s annual health expenditure.
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