‘Simply immoral’: Ontario pharmacists poised to trash thousands of expiring Moderna doses as demand declines
For Toronto pharmacist Kyro Maseh, the thought of tossing a life-saving vaccine into the trash is gut-wrenching.
But the owner of Lawlor Pharmasave on Kingston Road will soon have to throw away about 350 doses of Moderna “liquid gold,” as he puts it, if he can’t find arms for the shots before they expire August 2.
“It is just simply immoral, just sinful,” Maseh said Friday. “This could have saved a lot of lives in other countries.”
The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine only lasts 30 days in pharmacy fridges, and must be discarded if not administered by then. However, demand for the brand in Ontario is declining, due in part to skepticism about mixing and matching doses and misinformation about Moderna.
“The answer is simple,” said Maseh. “Just send it to countries that need it.”
But there is no protocol in place for donating soon-to-expire shots to jurisdictions starving for COVID-19 vaccines, partially due to strict quality control and cold chain custody requirements.
“While it is a shame if we do end up wasting, the extraction is very complex once the supply is distributed into the channel,” Justin Bates, CEO of the Ontario Pharmacists Association, told CTV Toronto.
“It’s not a simple solution once it’s in the fridge in the pharmacy.”
Bates estimates that thousands of doses could soon be forced to hit the trash in Ontario pharmacies as demand diminishes.
The Ontario Ministry of Health told CTV Toronto that it is working with local partners to redistribute doses to areas in need, as well as with federal partners “to explore vaccine donation opportunities in the future.”
Health Canada, meanwhile, said that work is underway to develop options for excess doses, particularly in certified depots where integrity can be assured.
“What I think needs to happen is the doses need to be reallocated from the top,” Ontario pharmacist Kristen Watt told CTV Toronto Friday. “So before they land on Canadian soil, they need to be redirected to where they need to go.”
Watt herself has had to toss expired COVID-19 vaccines, which she describes as “moral injury” for pharmacists.
But she said she’s trying to focus on celebrating each additional dose given, at this point, rather than doses lost.
“If I can open one vial and give it to a person that was previously vaccine-hesitant, before they have a [COVID-19] exposure, that is a life that I have potentially saved, rather than focusing on the five or 10 doses I may have lost in that vial,” Watt said.
Maseh, meanwhile, said he is prepared to drive his expiring doses anywhere he can to prevent them from going to waste.
“For so long they were liquid gold,” he said. “But they still are in many jurisdictions, and we need to keep that in mind.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.