Spain has destroyed more than twelve and a half million (12.629.585) of expired doses against COVID-19 since there are records, in February 2022, until the latest available data, March 2023. These correspond mainly to Modern (6.198.630) y Pfizer (3,060,510). follow them Novavax (2.280.000), Astrazeneca (1.052.20) y Janssen (483.745).
This is stated in the response provided by the Spanish Medicines Agency (AEMPS), under the Ministry of Health, to Newtral.es to a request for public information made via the transparency law.
However, in relative terms, the most destroyed are those of Novavax, after discarding 80% of those purchased from this brand.
If these destructions are compared with the number of vaccines that were previously acquired, figures that also appear in another official response provided by Health via the transparency law, the data reveals that 80% of the COVID-19 vaccines purchased by Health from the US pharmaceutical company Novavax have been destroyed because they have expired. Specifically, of the 2.28 million doses purchased from Novavax, 1.83 million have been destroyed.
- Of course, these twelve million doses destroyed represent only 4% of the total doses purchased, because according to latest data availableSpain has acquired a total of 285,288,975 vaccines against COVID-19 In addition, almost eight million vaccines are in the Health warehouses waiting to be destroyed.
Of the 2.28 million doses purchased from Novavax, 1.83 million have been destroyed
The last acquisition of vaccines made by Health was precisely from Novavax in August 2021. Since then, no new purchase of vaccines has been made, as it appears in the approvals issued by the Council of Ministers.
This batch was, specifically, 2,280,000 doses purchased from the specific company according to the official document and in the response that Health has given via transparency law published by the Council for Transparency and Good Governance (CTBG). In fact, in its opinion, the CTBG has urged Health to report on the money that Spain has paid for vaccines.
Now, thanks to this new transparency response obtained by Newtral.es, it is possible to know the dates of each and every dose destroyed for as long as there are records. The data reflects that the first destruction of vaccines began in February 2022 with several batches of Astrazeneca and that a year later, on January 10, 2023, 1,834,500 vaccines were destroyed Novavax for being expired.
Thus, of the 2.28 million doses purchased from Novavax, 1.83 million have been destroyed. These units represent 80% of the total Novavax vaccines that were purchased by Health from this pharmaceutical company.
Therefore, Novavax vaccines would be the least used compared to the units purchased from this brand. Asked the Ministry of Health about the cost of each dose of this vaccine up to the time of this publication no response.
The production of Novavax antigens has been in charge of the Zendal Group in Spain
The vaccine, known under the trade name Nuvavoxid, is powered by the American biotech Novavax, whose antigen manufacturing has been carried out in Spain by the Zendal Group.
This company is located in O Porriño, Galicia. In the words of the former Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, having a company like this in Spain was “a source of pride for the Government of Spain”.
From the Zendal Group they assure Newtral.es that from this laboratory only the production of antigens of the doses has been carried out, but not the filling or packaging of these. Asked why they have been destroyed, who has carried out these tasks and the price of the doses, the group assures that they cannot give information about the commercial part, dose or logistics. In addition, the pharmaceutical company Novavax itself has also been asked about the data and up to the time of this publication no response has been obtained.
Half of the vaccines destroyed by Health are from Moderna
Vaccines from the pharmaceutical company Novavax are not the only ones that have been destroyed since records began, dating back to February 2022. In fact, in absolute numbers, Moderna It has been the vaccine with the most doses destroyed with five out of ten doses: 6,198,630 units out of 12,629,585 in total.
They are followed by vaccines from Pfizer (24.23%), Novavax (14.53%), Astrazeneca (8.33%) and Janssen (3.83%). Previously, there were no records of dose destruction from any pharmaceutical laboratory.
- In the records provided by the AEMPS there are no destructions of the Sanofi/GSK vaccine
As published The Independent in 2021 on the average price of each dose, Moderna and Pfizer vaccines would be more expensive than those of other pharmaceutical companies.
According to his calculations, a dose of Modern was 14.92 euros on average and one from Pfizer of 13.38 euros compared to the 4.98 euros de Janssen and 1.79 euros from Astrazeneca. as posted The Wall Street Journal At the beginning of 2023, Moderna would be considering increasing the price of its vaccine against COVID-19 in the United States and multiplying it by 4 or even 5 times compared to its current cost.
Of course, when these average prices in Spain were made public, Novavax’s vaccine had not yet been marketed.
Thus, it is not possible to know the price per unit and, therefore, it is not possible to know how much money Spain has invested in these vaccines. Asked the Ministry of Health about the cost of each dose of this vaccine until the time of this publication, no response has been obtained.
Almost 8 million expired doses are in the Health warehouses waiting to be destroyed
In addition, the AEMP has also provided data on vaccines that have expired and are waiting to be destroyed in Health warehouses: 7,781,360 doses in total. 52% of them correspond, again, to the Moderna pharmaceutical company.
However, these vaccines have not yet been destroyed and from Health, in their response via the transparency law, they emphasize that the number of doses waiting to be destroyed varies over time “depending on when they are accounted for”.
This is because, they say, “the expiration date of the Covid vaccines it has been modified several times and it is foreseeable that it will continue to be modified”. From Health they detail that “this date corresponds to the period of validity authorized by the EMA”.
And, therefore, “it is susceptible to being extended as the incumbent laboratories provide new stability data over time and request an extension of the period of validity”, they conclude.
