Question asked by Sylvie on January 14,

Greetings,

Your question pertains to the current booster vaccination campaign against COVID-19 in the United Kingdom. And more precisely on the rumor of a huge mess of doses coming to the vaccination centers. This is actually revealed by the British media health service journal (HSJ), which had access to a memo that was sent by the National Health Service (NHS), the public health system, to the Vaccinodrome’s nearly 3,000 managers.

This memorandum states as follows: “A certain amount of vaccines that were supplied into the system in December to accompany the recall campaign, will likely expire in the coming weeks before they can be used. Centers should make every effort to utilize and prioritize this stock before it expires.”

Decreasing demand for booster doses

HSJ and Guardian Recall that the significant reserves were actually built before the year-end holidays as part of the recall campaign carried out by the British government. In the initial days, the campaign had some success. Thus, in the week leading up to Christmas, approximately 800,000 doses were administered each day, with a record of 968,665 injections on 21 December, taking the number of doses made in the country to 36 million at this time. Problem: Contrary to the government’s plan, the high tempo of meetings did not keep up with the times. The average daily injections decreased significantly (about 100,000 booster doses per day) since the beginning of January. As of 15 January, a total of 63.3% of Britons over the age of 12 had received a booster dose.

Sources interviewed by two media have specifically implicated people who do not go to their appointments, called “No Show”, Estimated 20 to 30%. There isn’t yet a precise explanation for the drop in attendance after the holidays: officials don’t know whether it’s a question of booster doses or the distrust of people who decide to go to another center. Furthermore, the forecast may also have been changed by the omicron wave, which eventually forced many infected people to stay at home and postpone their third dose.

Dosage deposited until further notice

However, instructions have not been given officially to get rid of the expiring stock. within the memorandum received by hsj, It is specified that the dose should be stored in a suitable refrigerator “until further notice”. The newspaper specifies that discussions are ongoing between officials and makers of Pfizer and Moderna Vaccines to possibly extend the expiration period. For now, in both the UK and France, the shelf life for Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which have already been extended recently, is nine months.