As coronavirus vaccine interest dropped in Louisiana, the state saw a spike in the number of wasted shots, with almost 80,000 vaccine doses thrown away largely because health providers could not find enough arms quickly enough.
Wasted doses of the life-saving vaccines numbered fewer than 1,500 only four months ago. But data from the Louisiana Department of Health showed the unused, discarded shots surged to more than 50 times that number by July 23.
Another 161,000 doses of the three coronavirus vaccines available across the state are slated to expire within 14 days, something the Health Department hopes to avoid either through a possible federal decision to extend the expiration dates or through increased vaccine interest.
