$410 million in expired COVID-19 vaccines dumped

Dec 16, 2023 News

Kaieteur News – The Ministry of Health in 2022 was forced to dispose of $410 million in expired Covid-19 vaccines.

According to the Auditor General’s (AG’s) 2022 Report, during the period January 14, 2022 to April 8, 2022 a total of 92,131 vials of Sputnik Vaccines, valued a total of $410.831 million were expired and disposed of by the Ministry.

For the year 2022 a total of $2.270 billion was budgeted under Programme two for Disease Control- Communicable Disease. Notably, the bulk of this allocation, the sum of $1,850,000, was budgeted for the COVID-19 Response Programme.

Meanwhile, on the subject of medical supplies, the AG, Deodat Sharma also flagged that a whopping $725.499 million in drugs and medical supplies paid for by the state were not received.

According to the AG Report, $9.471 billion was budgeted for drugs and medical supplies. There was an allotment transfer of $140.847M taking the total available funds to $9.612 billion.

The AG said an analysis of the payments revealed that cheques for the full amount were drawn. It included payments of $9.589 billion to suppliers and $3.413M for freight and other charges; however, as at the end of August 2023, deliveries amounting to $725.499 million were outstanding.

The report noted that in September 2023 the Ministry indicated that drugs and medical supplies worth $133.696M were received. The Audit Office however reported that it was in the process of validating the deliveries.

In response to the AG’s findings on the undelivered goods, the Head of the Budget agency for the Ministry of Health explained that it was normal for the supplies to be delayed. It said, “In addition to space constraints, it is normal practice in the health supply chain to expect changes in delivery times for medicines and supplies after Contracts are signed, due to unexpected demand patterns as a result of pandemics, natural disasters, and illness profiles. Therefore, the Ministry staggered the above deliveries to suit current needs.”

The Audit Office has nonetheless recommended that the Head of Budget Agency take action to ensure that suppliers of drugs and medical supplies honour their contractual obligations.

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