Gauteng Health MEC, Nomathemba Mokgethi has disclosed that 191 Pfizer vials and 498 J&J vials of Covid-19 vaccine had been wasted.
This amounts to 3 636 Covid-19 vaccine doses in total as there are six doses in a Pfizer vial and five doses in a J&J vial .
DA Gauteng member of the provincial legislature and spokesperson for health, Jack Bloom made a statement on Tuesday that Mokgethi released the figures due to his questions for oral reply in the Gauteng Legislature.
“According to Mokgethi, the wasted doses occurred because vials are sometimes opened and people are not available to use all the doses, and power failures led to some vials being spoiled. Some vaccines also expired,” Bloom said.
“While it is disappointing that vaccines are wasted for various reasons, the larger problem is Gauteng’s flagging vaccine programme which lags other provinces,” he said.
