The people who administer covid vaccines are are being told to throw away stock because of a drop in the number of younger people going to get their first jab, according to reports.
Efforts to use ip surplus vaccines on people awaiting their second jab are also being thwarted due to strict guidance set out by the government, which states the vaccines must be given at last eight weeks apart, a source told the Daily Telegraph.
The vaccinator said: “For the last two weeks we have literally been throwing the vaccine into the bin,” the vaccinator, from the northeast of England, said.
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The Independent reports: They added that most people who want their first dose have already come forward but “hesitancy” is stopping more people from coming forward.
More than 87 per cent of the population have received their first vaccination, but that falls significantly to just below 60 per cent for 18- to 25-year-olds. “Some aren’t turning up because they’ve had a vaccine elsewhere,” the source claimed, while criticising the wasteful attitude of throwing the medicine away.
“It is a shame because poorer countries are desperate for vaccines,” they said.
The Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) currently recommends an interval of eight to 12 weeks between Covid-19 vaccine doses, on the back of studies suggesting it offers greater immunity.
Scientists this week described the eight-week interval as a “sweet spot” for those getting the Pfizer jab, after research showed the wait time generates more neutralising antibodies and “helper” T cells against Delta and other variants of concern than a three-week schedule.
Vaccinators have been told to follow the guidance strictly, which sometimes means throwing vaccine away instead of giving it to people earlier, the unnamed source said.
