Canada to throw out 13.6M coronavirus vaccine doses

By Burak Bir

ANKARA (AA) - Canadian health authorities have said about 13.6 million expired Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 doses will be thrown out.

According to a statement by the Health Ministry, more than half of the vaccine doses have expired due to low demand both within and outside the country.

Although Canada has donated nearly 9 million doses to 21 different countries around the world, 13.6 million Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 doses will be discarded since there was not enough demand before the expiry, the Canadian Press reported on Tuesday.

Canada has also donated more than 6.1 million Moderna vaccine doses, but the country has also thrown out 1.2 million doses of the vaccine, the report said.

Canada has so far reported 3.94 million coronavirus cases with over 42,000 deaths, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University.

While more than 31 million people in Canada have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.