Even with vaccines available, people refuse to get vaccinated... US "Overflow of vaccines nearing expiration"

Over 50 Million Doses Unadministered... Vaccination Pace Slows
Joe Biden: "Having Vaccines for All Americans Is a Blessing"

Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine.
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] Local governments in the United States are making every effort to use COVID-19 vaccines nearing their expiration dates to prevent vaccine wastage.

According to major foreign media on the 28th (local time), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it has approved a plan to extend the shelf life of the Janssen vaccine, stored under proper conditions, from 4.5 months to 6 months, an extension of one and a half months. The FDA explained, "This measure applies to vaccines that have expired if they have been stored at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius."

The shelf life of the Janssen vaccine was previously extended from 3 months to 4.5 months on the 10th of last month, and this is the second extension. This reflects public opinion concerned about having to discard vaccines due to expiration dates.

In fact, the state of Oklahoma was supposed to discard 75,000 doses of the Janssen vaccine at the end of last month, but with the extension of the shelf life, they can continue to use them.

Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Photo by Yonhap News

Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which have a shelf life of 6 months, also have many doses nearing expiration.

In Oklahoma, 398,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine and 21,800 doses of Moderna vaccine will expire this month and next month, respectively. North Carolina has about 974,000 doses of vaccines expiring this month and next month. Arkansas currently has 380,000 doses remaining, of which 100,000 doses are reported to expire this month.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a total of approximately 397.464 million vaccine doses have been distributed nationwide so far. However, the actual number of doses administered is 344.071 million, meaning that 53.39 million doses remain in storage. This appears to be the result of a slowdown in vaccination speed as 60% of adults have completed vaccination.

President Joe Biden said in a speech at the White House, "It is a blessing that we have vaccines for the entire American population. It is truly shameful to waste that blessing."