240 MILLION Doses of Corona Vaccine Discarded

Posted on April 17, 2024

The Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW) revealed at a meeting of the House of Representatives Committee on Monitoring the Settlement of Accounts on March 15 that about 240 million doses of the new coronavirus vaccine will be discarded.

The estimated amount to be discarded is approximately 665.3 billion yen. The temporary vaccination program for the new strain of coronavirus vaccine, which was fully paid for by the public, came to an end at the end of March. With the end of the program, the MHLW asked local governments to promptly dispose of the vaccine after April, even before the expiration date. 　

According to the MHLW, the contracted amount of vaccines purchased was about 928.4 million doses, and since the total number of vaccinations at the end of March amounted to 436.19 million doses, approximately 244.15 million doses, excluding those supplied overseas, are to be disposed of. 　

The unit price of one dose of vaccine is not disclosed in the contract, but when the purchase budget is divided by the number of contracts, the unit price is 2,725 yen, and the amount to be disposed of is estimated to be 66.53 billion yen. 　

At a meeting of the House of Representatives Committee on the Monitoring of Administrative Settlement of Accounts, a MHLW official explained, “We purchased the necessary vaccines according to the situation at that time. We do not consider it wasteful.

Meanwhile, MHLW Minister Keizo Takemi noted that Japan had not developed a research base for mRNA vaccines and had to scramble to secure overseas products. He stated, “We were in a more miserable situation where we couldn’t produce it even if we spent money on it.”