Alabama Just Tossed 65,000 Vaccines. Turns Out It's Not Easy To Donate Unused Doses
Alabama is one of the states throwing away COVID-19 doses as they expire. But other nations desperately need vaccines — and public health experts would like to see vaccines used instead of wasted.
The vast majority of COVID-19 vaccines have gone straight from drug companies to affluent countries such as the United States. Worldwide only about 1% have made it to low-income countries.
And here's what's happening all across the United States: Millions of vaccine doses at risk of spoiling are sitting on freezer shelves, with no easy way to get them to countries desperately waiting for shots.
In North Carolina, for example, more than half a million Pfizer shots are set to expire by the end of August. Alabama just threw away 65,000 doses. Last month, Arkansas tossed 80,000.
