With poor handling or inadequate disposal of expired vaccines, there is a pathological risk because there are biologicals that contain viral vectors or other components, which can translate into a danger.
Although it is true that the Office of the Prosecutor against Corruption of the Public Prosecutor’s Office is carrying out an ex officio investigation in relation to the expired SputnikV vaccines, and requested the Fourth Criminal Court of First Instance to count all the biologicals as advance evidence The time will come when they will have to be destroyed.
This is why La Red consulted Eco Reprocesos, a company dedicated to the technical treatment and management of this type of waste.
Nelson Mejía, commercial manager of Eco Reprocesses, commented that when the time comes to destroy the millions of expired vaccines, it must be through a controlled incineration process, not in the open air, nor burying them, and complying with the regulations required by law in Government Agreement 509-2001.
“This incineration must reach a temperature of 800 to 1200 degrees Celsius, which guarantees that the internal component of the vaccine is completely eliminated,” explained Mejía.
As for the vials, the interviewee indicated that at that temperature the glass only breaks and remains mixed with the ash. “These remains can be disposed of in a landfill,” he explained.
For his part, the head of the Department of Health and Environment Programs of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance, Oliverio Chub, indicated that Government Agreement 509-2001, subsection D classifies expired vaccines as bioinfectious hospital waste and material biological.
“The type of treatment or final disposal must be carried out by a company authorized for this type of activity and it must be disposed of according to the appropriate technology that the company has for this purpose,” added Chub.
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