Unused COVID vaccines expiring in Saskatchewan

While Saskatchewan struggles to get the remaining thousands of people vaccinated against COVID-19, unused vaccine doses in the province are nearing or passing their expiry date.

In the past six months (from September to February), 46,010 COVID vaccine doses expired on the shelf in Saskatchewan, according to the Ministry of Health — including 15,580 in just the first two months of 2022.

The ministry says vaccine wastage overall through the pandemic works out to 1.5 per cent.

When asked why vaccines are expiring, Health Minister Paul Merriman said you have to look at the procurement: The federal government got millions more doses than were needed.

“When those flowed out, they were flowing as much as they possibly can,” said Merriman.

The province does have options when doses near their expiry date. Doses are redistributed around the province and Merriman said doctors make sure the doses closest to expiry are used first.

Saskatchewan can also give the doses away, offering them to other provinces and territories.

In September, the province gave 1,000 doses to Alberta. But it’s not always successful in those efforts: In January of this year, the province offered 60,500 to other provinces with no takers. And last week, the ministry said it had put 149,000 doses on offer to other provinces.

Saskatchewan can also release doses back to the federal government to potentially be donated to other countries in need. The ministry said 566,970 doses have been released back to the Public Health Agency of Canada and 528,000 of them were donated to other countries.

“We want to make sure that we’re maximizing all of our vaccines that we have out there, and if we can’t use them, I’d love to get them into somebody else’s arm around the world,” said Merriman.

The only order the province has on the books for more vaccines as of Tuesday was for the new Novavax vaccine when it comes available.

This is all happening while hundreds of thousands of people in this province aren’t fully vaccinated and even more haven’t gone to get a booster dose.

Not even a year ago, thousands of people waited in line for hours in vehicles and standing on sidewalks for the chance to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Now, only a few thousand doses a week are being given out.

Just over 80 per cent of Saskatchewan’s eligible population (those five years old and up) are fully vaccinated. That works out to more than 200,000 people who aren’t fully vaccinated.

Just over 50 per cent of those who are eligible have rolled up their sleeves for a booster.

Those two percentages rise by only about one-tenth of a per cent each week.

Merriman said health officials are still getting some elderly people coming in to get their first shot, which he called encouraging.

The minister said he didn’t have a good answer as to why vaccination numbers have stalled.

“I don’t understand why people wouldn’t get vaccinated. This is a free vaccine,” said Merriman.

He said an 80 per cent vaccination rate is not enough; it needs to get as high as possible because COVID is not over.

“People need to get their booster shots (and) they need to go and get their second dose. It may not be as harmful as the Delta wave — the Omicron wave — but it can still hit some people very hard,” said Merriman.

The minister also said getting vaccinated is a personal choice and he respects that.

“I would hope we could get up to 80 (or) 90 per cent of booster shots but I’m not sure if we’ll get there,” said Merriman.

The NDP thinks the province should be doing more to get those last people vaccinated.

NDP Health Critic Vicki Mowat believes dispelling misinformation is a first step and Premier Scott Moe has a responsibility to take leadership on this and clearly communicate the efficacy of vaccines.

“Instead we have seen him deliberately spreading misinformation to people across the province and pandering to extreme views rather than protecting the health of Saskatchewan people,” claimed Mowat, referring to comments Moe made in February which contended the vaccine no longer protected a person against catching or transmitting COVID.

Mowat said those comments slowed down interest in COVID vaccines in Saskatchewan, and that can be seen playing out in booster rates right now.

“When the premier of the province calls into question the efficacy of vaccines and then immediately after that we see that the vaccine rates have just plateaued — that we have seen a decrease in our uptake of booster shots — there is absolutely a link between those two things,” said Mowat.

Mowat said the NDP has been calling for a “last mile” strategy for a while. That could include things like calling people who’ve only got one dose or haven’t got a booster and asking them to set up an appointment and answer any questions they may have.

She said these are common-sense measures the provincial government isn’t willing to take.

“We can’t be lagging behind other provinces here. We have to get our rates up,” said Mowat.