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Americans receiving COVID-19 vaccine early as clinics seek to make sure not a drop goes to waste
Jan 22, 2021 1 min, 38 secs

With millions of Americans waiting for their chance to get the coronavirus vaccine, a lucky few are getting bumped to the front of the line as clinics scramble to get rid of extra, perishable doses at the end of the day.

Sometimes people who just happen to be near a clinic at closing time are offered leftover shots that would otherwise be thrown away.

"I got two doses of the Moderna vaccine.

Once a vial is thawed from the deep freeze and, even more so, once its seal is punctured and the first dose is drawn, those administering the vaccine are in a race to use it up before it spoils even if it means giving shots to those who don't fit into the priority list.

In New York City, a rumour that the Brooklyn Army Terminal had extra doses triggered a rush to the vaccine distribution site, leading to bumper-to-bumper traffic in the streets and a line of hundreds on the side of the road until police came out to say they had been duped.

In one case last month, the city's health department ended up giving extra doses to two workers at a Subway restaurant in a nearby hospital so they wouldn't go to waste.

Providers also note that the chances of leftover shots becoming available to the broader public are diminishing with each passing week as eligibility for the vaccine widens beyond the very old, nursing home residents and front-line medical workers.

Though federal data is not available, health authorities in various jurisdictions contacted by The Associated Press reported very little waste beyond a few notable cases of doses that were accidentally or deliberately spoiled.

In Ohio, officials said 165 of 459,000 doses distributed as of last week were damaged or lost in transit, thrown away because of vaccine no-shows, or otherwise wasted.

Vials of the Pfizer vaccine contain five doses — and sometimes an extra one — and Moderna's contain 10.

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