Stock image. (source: Sme - Marko Erd)
Slovakia could see millions of euros spent on Covid-19 vaccines wasted as they expire in the coming days and months. The country has almost 2.5 million unused vaccines with tens of thousands of them expiring within the next few days.
The vaccines can neither be sold nor donated to another country in such a short time.
This comes as several thousand more vaccines - the Health Ministry has not said how many exactly - ordered from pharmaceutical companies are due to arrive by the end of the year. While their import could be stopped by the European Commission, which negotiated contracts with the companies on behalf of the member states, if it is not, millions of euros spent by Slovakia will have been wasted.
Several vaccination centres are being closed as interest in vaccinations is low, and the chances of using the stored vaccines are slim. Almost 51 percent of Slovaks have been fully vaccinated.
Millions of euros in vaccines
According to the Health Ministry, Slovakia has paid almost €151 million for vaccines so far.
Currently, there are more than 62,000 vaccines from the American company Moderna stored. These vaccines will expire in the next two days starting from April 26. It is impossible to donate them on such a short notice. Last August, one dose of the vaccine was sold for €23.42. This means that in April alone, Slovakia could lose almost €1.5 million.
However, this is not the only problem. In May, another 61,000 Moderna vaccines are going to expire, meaning another €1.5 million could be lost. A total of three million euros may have been spent on unused vaccines.
